Mixed-race family suffered years of racist abuse from neighbours

A family has described suffering years of racist abuse from neighbours that led to their son asking if he could be painted white.

The couple and their two children were forced to move from their home, schools and jobs, even fearing their house would be burned down.

Their neighbours were fined but the abuse continued, with racist graffiti left outside the family's home.

They have now been moved by Sovereign Housing, which has not commented.

The family, who live in the south of England, said they were still targeted even after a restraining order was taken out against their neighbours.

Because the family wanted to remain anonymous, the BBC worked with Southampton Solent University to create an animation voiced by actors, allowing them to discuss the abuse in their own words.

The father said: "The only time it's really affected me, I was in the bath, just lying in the bath and my son was there playing with the bubbles in the bath.

"And he said: 'Dad, why don't we get that paint that's left over from the house and we just paint me, you' and his older brother.

"'We paint ourselves all white and then we don't have any problems.'

"And that's the time I can honestly say in my life that has actually drawn tears to my eyes."

One of the family's children asked his father if they could paint themselves white to escape the abuse

He said the abuse first started in September 2017, but it was only in the summer of 2020 they were finally moved by their housing association.

The man said: "[It was] totally out of the blue. We pulled up outside our house, started ushering the children inside. I heard someone shout 'weirdo'.

"I looked and there was this chap, one of our neighbours, just standing opposite, hailing abuse at us.

"And then they came closer and closer. They teamed up and shouted more racial abuse."

The family said the racial abuse continued after a civil case brought by the housing association

The family reported the abuse to the police, and their neighbours were summoned to court.

A woman admitted a racial public order offence and was issued with a £200 fine in November 2017, while a man admitted the same charge in January 2018. He was also fined £200.

A civil case was taken against them by Sovereign Housing, which owns housing across the south and west of England.

It was triggered after a member of its staff was shocked by threats of violence against the family.

But the family said the abuse continued - and that no further action was taken.

The father said: "They shouted: 'We'll get you, we'll burn you up in your house.'

"I had a bucket, ready to fill up with water if need be, because I was worried that these people were going to set fire to us while we were in our house."

The police force that dealt with the reports of the racial abuse said officers had spoken to an independent witness within 48 hours of the first report.

The police force said racially motivated hate crimes "have a disproportionate impact" on their victims

A spokesperson said: "We know that hate crimes have a disproportionate impact on victims, their families and the wider community.

"We want our residents to know that we take all reports of hate crime very seriously and that there is support available for them."

Prosecutors said they asked the court for sentence uplifts for the abusers, and they received an increased fine to reflect the racist nature of their offending.

A CPS spokesperson said: "We recognise that the victims in this case will have suffered greatly from being racially abused by their neighbours.

"No one should have to live in fear of being a victim of crime, and it is clear they have had to endure incredibly offensive language directed at them.

"The defendants were prosecuted in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors for using racially offensive language.

"The CPS secured guilty pleas from both defendants, which meant that the victims did not have to give evidence at a trial."

Sovereign Housing has been approached for a comment.