Cornish Gay Youth in International Documentary on HATE CRIME.

A Cornish Gay Youth is to be the British contingent in an International Documentary on worldwide Homophobic 'HATE CRIME'.




Peter, who is now almost 19yrs old, is to be the Brtish contigent on an International documentary looking at homophobic 'HATE CRIME' worldwide.

In Peter's case it is to focus on Institutional Homophobia carried out by the Cornish Authorities, including the homophobic Cornwall police, here in the UK.

When Peter Midwood was 15yrs old, he was living rough on the streets of Helston, in Cornwall.

He had been excluded from Helston school, where he had been relentlessly bullied. His home life no better, a family known to social services, Peter was one of seven children from a string of mainly different fathers. Allegations of mental, physical & other abuse at home ignored by the authorities in his home life. Other former students have spoken of the bruises Peter had, but the Cornish authorities simply did not want to know!

It does not take a genius to work out that if a child is repeatedly not attending school there are three possiblities (a) problems at home (b) problems at school (c) problems at both home & school. But this is to big a concept for teachers at Helston Community school to grasp. Helston school has a reputation for bullying, in particular 'homophobic' bullying according to several other gay former x-pupils.

Numerous highly paid 'professional'? people in the Cornwall education system, youth service, police & social services all turned a blind-eye to what was happening to Peter, even when he ended up living on the streets at 15yrs old.

The Cornwall authorities knew Peter, at 15yrs old, was living on the streets of Helston as did many other people in Helston, but completely & repeatedly failed in their professional or even civic 'Duty of Care' towards him. Helston, in Cornwall easily could be percieved as being a town where the moderately affluent Cornish there just simply do not care about young people, in particular vulnerable young gay people.

Disinterest, lack of professionalisim & down right ingrained homophobic attitudes & practises within both Cornwall Police & Cornwall social services reared its head and have continued to persicute Peter & others for being 'gay'.

The Cornwall police were far more interested in trying to falsely criminaly prosecute gay persons, than their 'duty of care' to Peter, in what was shoddily run Salemn Witch Trial by DC Magnus Scott. Cornwall police in a desperate bid to cover up their own and other Cornish institutions homophobic failings & abuses acted upon rumor, speculation, false allegations & homophobic perceptions against and deliberetly intended to vilify gay people. Some Cornwall police officers blatantly lied and one even accused of pujury in the police homophobic motivated rush to try to prosecute gay persons.

The only victims here were Peter, and those members of the public who assisted him.

Organisations like Cornwall SHARE, Cornwall youth services & even the Navy Family Welfare were all approached on Peters behalf...NONE OF THEM CARED LESS or would give assistance too Peter!

It was not just institutional authorities which let Peter down. Peter also tried getting assistence from the Intercom Trust, a supposedly gay organisation based in Exeter.

"They simply did not want to know" said Peter "They just ignored the homophobic abuse me & others were experiencing from Homophobic Cornwall police".

The Intercom Trust has recently come under considerable critisicim from other gay, lesbian & transgender persons in both Cornwall & Plymouth. Despite recieving thousands of pounds in lottery funding Intercom Trust has been vocally critisised by gay people for repeatedly failing to support gay persons in difficulty from institutional homophobia in the South West.

"Unfortnuately Intercom Trust is less interested in helping & supporting vulnerable gay persons abused by homophobic institutions, than it is in appeasing and simpering up to those very same homophobic organiations" said one gay former supporter & now critic of Intercom Trust.

When Peter did recieve assistance & support from members of the public, the Cornwall Police & Social Services reacted most homophobically. Police & social services attempted to blackmail Peter. This was even recorded on tape by one of Peter's landladies other tenants. Police then went on to persicute Peter further in other acts of intimidation & violation, which despite complaint, these abuses by Cornwall police have never been investigated.

The depth of homophobic corruption within Cornwall police and just how far up the rank it goes should be of serious concern to every member of the public in Cornwall. Especially as the Cornwall Police Authority despite being informed simply does not want to know!

Unfortunately in Cornwall, homophobic attitudes, practises & failing to address complaints on homophobia remain a common benchmark of Cornwall's shoddy 2nd rate professionalisim within police, social services & Cornwall County Hall on equality & diversity issues. But what can one expect from a Chief Constable who has demonstrated a disinterest in the homophobic practises of his officers and who was once even accused of racisim by one of his own senior police officers?

The majority of Cornwall police officers encountered seem oblivious that homosexuality was decriminalised 40yrs ago. Cornwall police are ignorant of their own 'True Vision' policy on reporting & handling homophobic incidents. Cornwall police demonstrate complete ignorance of the Crown Prosecution definition of a ghomophobic incident. Cornwall police are in complete denial of the equalising of the age of sexual consent for homosexuals in January 2001.

The bottom line remains that the most likely person to homophobically abuse & violate and carry out a 'hate crime' against the life of a gay person in Cornwall ...is STILL a Cornwall police officer.

Peter continues to live in the pensioner landladies home, the person who first gave him refuge when Cornwall authorites repeatedly failed him. Through a gay employer Peter obtained a college qualification, although a relentless Cornwall police homophobic vendetta put Peters former gay employer out of business. Peter does however have another job and despite no assistance from social services at all, he has managed to keep himself financially solvent. Quite an achievement for a gay youth so abused & violated by The Cornish Authorities.

There are around twenty police officers in Cornwall, primarily in CID at Camborne & other police officers from Helston, whose continued employment as police officers should be in serious question due to their homophobic attitudes and practises against gay persons.

The public would not accept a peadophile as a primary school teacher, so why should KNOWN homophobic Cornwall police officers like those who have been identified in complaints, continue to be employed as police officers. It is an unacceptable homophobic situation endorsed against gay persons.

Sadly, even newly appointed LGBT officers, appointed as a result of previous complaints to the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) about Cornwall police, have chosen to turn a blind eye to repeated complaints regarding the homophobic acts of their identified police colleagues.

Unfortunately, Cornwall police force is simply morally (and possibly criminally) corrupt when it comes to their continuing homophobic attitude and practises against gay persons, still in 2008.

Today, Peter's mother on her social website page even denies the very existence of her son she neglected & abandoned when she moved 400 miles away, leaving him on the streets. The mother also denies the existence of her two eldest daughters on her webpage.

As for Peter, he was a youth member of last years 2007 successful Cornwall Gay PRIDE Beach Day (which disbanded out of fear of further homophobic reprisals by Cornwall police). He was one of twenty LGBT persons who voted on three seperate occassions NOT to involve the homophobic Cornwall Police Force in the Gay Beach Day.

"As long as there are homophobic police officers like DC Magnus Scott, me and other gay people like me are not safe as gay persons in Cornwall" said Peter