Richard Hamer: Attacks on disabled are unacceptable

Last week two young boys pushed a disabled man with Cerebral Palsy on to an Edinburgh street in his electric wheelchair. They even ensured that there was no way the man could take himself back to safety, as they had turned his wheelchair off.

This story is appalling and almost unbelievable. It is, however, made worse by the fact that it occurred on the two-year anniversary of another vicious attack on a man with Cerebral Palsy in Edinburgh. In this case, two girls verbally abused the man and then one of them punched him and knocked him to the ground.

The question in the minds of those who work at Capability Scotland is whether these are isolated incidents or the tip of an iceberg. Can we really conclude that a small but worrying minority of children see disabled people as an easy target for violence or intimidation? Or is this just two random, extremely unpleasant, incidents?

Clearly the message is not getting out to some young people that such crimes are both unacceptable. This is probably not surprising given the relatively recent change in legislation. Capability fought for seven years to see crimes motivated wholly or in part by prejudice against disabled people to be recognised as such. We have Patrick Harvie MSP and the Scottish Government to thank for delivering the long-overdue Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Act in 2009.

The Act, which finally came into force in March of this year, means that sentencing relating to crimes which are motivated by malice or ill-will based on a victim's disability must take into account the motivation for the offence. This puts disability-related crimes on a par with racist incidents.

But, of course, a uniting factor between the incident last week and the one two years ago is the age of those who committed the crime. In both cases it is believed that those involved were children. Clearly education, not legislation, is the best way to prevent further occurrences but whose responsibility is this?

Police will always be expected by the public to address and prevent such offences occurring. Many would also see Capability Scotland as also having a strong role to play.

I'd like to think that we and the police are playing our part. Over the last year we've worked to speak to as many disabled people with different impairments. We wanted to really understand what needs to change for disabled people to get the justice they deserve.

Capability and the police have also worked together to create the Hate Crime Manual. This guide, launched in September, will ensure there is no doubt in the minds of those who enforce the law as to right and wrong.Most importantly, however, is the "remote reporting" service we've launched with the police. This allows disabled people who have been the victims of a crime, but who may fear retribution if they report it directly to the police, to report it through Capability. We will then pass the details of the offence, anonymously if requested, to police. We have just had our first report and, if nothing else, such cases will help build a more accurate picture of how many of these despicable crimes are actually occurring.

It's true that schools have a significant role to play in weaving this message throughout the curriculum. But another uniting factor in these two crimes is that they happened during the school holidays. Whilst schools can educate about equality, they can't do this when they are closed.

Ultimately, the responsibility comes down to parents. Few would fail to take action if their children were stealing or carrying knives. But how many would act if they heard their children making jokes about disabled people?

We are all responsible and we all have a role to play in ensuring disabled people can live a life free from the threat of violence or abuse.

Richard Hamer is director of external affairs for Capability Scotland

MORE THAN CAPABLE

Established in 1946 by a group of committed parents and professionals, Capability Scotland, or the Scottish Council for Spastics as it was then known, originally set out with the purpose of providing support to children with cerebral palsy.

Its first service, Westerlea School for children with cerebral palsy, opened in Edinburgh, and became the foundation for more than 60 services for children and adults with a range of disabilities.

Today, Capability supports more than 1300 people in Scotland, with its broad range of services allowing it to promote independence and quality of life for disabled people.

The charity also campaigns for a just and fair Scotland, working with disabled people to promote their views and needs in political debates.