'It's very unsettling' - Brave victim of disability hate crime in Leeds speaks out

Jonathan Ferguson, 34, said he wants to share his story "even if it makes things worse" in order to raise awareness of what he fears is becoming a growing issue for the city.

His comments come as the Yorkshire Evening Post reported that West Yorkshire has been named the country's hotspot for disability hate crime for the third year running.

The Headingley resident, who has autism and other linked issues including dyspraxia, a co-ordination problem which affects his gait, said he is regularly heckled in the street by motorists.

He told the Yorkshire Evening Post, he feels incidents against him have become a daily occurrence over the past few months and suggests people could be taking out their pandemic frustrations on "easy targets" such as himself.

He said: “I can’t always hear the exact words but it’s happening so many times now, nearly every day. It’s happening with cars driving down the street.

“Sometimes it’s several days in a row and there’s no-one else on the street. I’ve even had eggs thrown at me at random a few weeks ago. That was one of the low points of it.”

Jonathan said he noticed it had started becoming more frequent during “the later point of lockdown”, and has made him question whether it could be linked to the pandemic.

“I’m not really sure what this is about but it could be that people are just taking out their frustrations against anyone who is a bit different or an easy target,” he said.

Jonathan said his difficulties affect his walk and his physical appearance has also been impacted by money issues as well as his mental health.

“I wear glasses and that, with my gait - the way I walk can certainly be clumsy - and with money at the moment, my clothes are probably not as good as they could be.

“It was just very unsettling, that it’s at random and it never used to happen and now this sort of ugly behaviour seems to be emerging.

“Earlier on I used to respond but these days I just try and ignore. But it’s not very pleasant.

“Apart from anything else, it was the uncertainty about what it was all about. I almost started getting suspicious that it was a concerted effort [against me] but that’s unlikely because I’m not a very important person.”

Jonathan said, like many, lockdown had an impact on his mental health and it was once he started venturing out more often that the hate crime incidents became more frequent.

“Whenever this heckling happens, it does irritate me and takes me a step down in my future recovery .

“These people are not really interested in the deeper story about what might be going on with people. It’s just objective. And that people are just there for the entertainment or amusement of others.

“Everyone in this city has a story of some kind and their own problems but not everyone turns to this kind of hooliganism.

“I’m just really talking about it, regardless of whether it makes things worse, [because] I think people need to be a bit aware of it generally, of what’s going on.

“This whole situation of apparently medically-related harassment from drivers does seem to be deteriorating as time goes on.”

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Thank you

Laura Collins