Another racism case in UK

[Premi]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/family-who-moved-150-miles-8670398

Family who moved 150 miles to Leicestershire to flee racism had slurs hurled at them by Glenfield neighbour

The family, who are Sikh, had moved to the county to flee racism in their former home town

 

By

Asha Patel

• 09:29, 12 AUG 2023
• UPDATED11:19, 12 AUG 2023

A family who moved to Leicestershire to flee racist abuse in their former home town had racist slurs shouted over their fence by their new neighbour. The Sikh family, who did not want to be identified, moved from Eastbourne, is East Sussex, around 12 years ago after having been "pushed out" of their neighbourhood.

The married couple, both aged 63, and their 33-year-old son settled in Glenfield where they had felt safe and happy, until last year. On Tuesday, July 19, their neighbour began hurling abusive language at them over their garden fence. The couple's son said they had previously fallen out with 64-year-old Peter Ziemelis over land and building-related issues.

"Our family has been through a lot and we thought, 'Why is this happening to us again?'," the son said. Speaking of their time living in Eastbourne, he added: "It was really bad. Our family were targeted and we had our windows smashed through. It was a really distressing time for my family, so we moved here and we felt really comfortable until this happened.

"My father has gone through a lot. He's had to get help from doctors, and the community help because of the stress this has caused. He had a really low point in his life because of this incident."

Ziemelis, 64, of the Dorset Avenue area, was found guilty of racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment with intent to cause alarm or distress in words and writing, and of using threatening and abusive words and behaviour to cause harassment, at Loughborough Magistrates' Court on Friday, July 14, this year. He was given Community Order for 12 months, in which he was ordered to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also slapped with a restraining order and was ordered to pay court costs.

On behalf of the family, the son said: "We're so relieved and it feels like a weight off our shoulders. We want other people to report incidents like this if it happens to them because something can be done.

"It was hard but we stayed strong and resilient throughout and so you can get through it." He added that many people in his community did not report racism when they experienced it, but said he encouraged them to come forward.