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Some shocking news that doesn't seem to have reached the majority of the Cornish population.
A community project building called the 'Hope Project' in St. Agnes has been subject to yet another arson attack in the last 18 months. Unity Cornwall believe this is a racially motivated attack. Eventually, the Fire Service confirmed it was arson and the police has now classified the incident as a race hate crime.
The 'Western Morning News' and 'West Briton' publised the rasist incident on the 12th January 2012.
Sam Farmer, the director of the Hope Project said: "Racist have tried to run me over and they have chased me down the lane and spat on me. Police have repeatedly refused to take my statement. They say I have no evidence." Mr Farmer also said: "we're scared that if we build this back up it'll be burned down again. We know it will be."
Unity Cornwall have been supporting Mr Farmer and his family for the last couple of years and have taken statements of all Mr Farmer's racist assaults, but we have never received any request to produce these statement by the police. However, they still have the option, which should help them conduct a thorough investigation with regard to all Mr Farmer's horrid racist experience living in Cornwall for the last 12 years.
Unity Cornwall has noticed jump in the reporting of racist incidents in Cornwall. However, none of these cases are as serious as Mr Farmer's experience. The fact remains that Mr Farmer could have easily been sleeping in the premises at the time of the arson.
Unity sees many racist victims, but these incidents usually take the form of verbal abuse and/or physical attack. Also, some cases of race discrimination and/or institutional racism in the workplace. In June 2008, the local newspapers and the Independent national newspaper covered the story of the first Asian community centre near Truro, Cornwall where a disused chapel was being developed into an Asian community centre. The Centre had three seperate attacks on it before it was completed. Obscene graffiti defaming Islam and espousing the cause of Cornish nationalism was splattered across the wall of the chapel. In earlier incidents a pig's head was nailed to the door and KKK and BNP was painted on the outside walls. After that an arsonist attack attempting to destroy the whole building with a petrol bomb occured. At that time in 2008, the police had classified the racist incident as 'critical' even though the building actually wasn't burnt down and eventually they caught the perpetrator, but the CPS - Court Prosecution Service accepted a guilty plea of 'arson' and therefore the perpetrator only got several months of community service. Mr Farmer and Unity Cornwall hope that the police are also going to categorise this case as critical and be able to apprehend the criminal, arrest and charge he or she. Maybe the CPS will take the racist element a more seriously this time!
Unity will continue to support Mr Farmer and his family and hope that all decent people out there will also show their support. Unity's resources are very limited and funding organisations like us to do this type of work has never been taken seriously locally or nationally. |
