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THE yob who led the tormentors of tragic Fiona and Francecca Pilkington came from a family from hell branded the Untouchables.

Angry neighbours have told how shameless Alex Simmons, 16, was seen screaming abuse at Fiona, 38, just hours before she and her daughter died.

They say their hoodie gang hell has continued despite the tragedy.

And last night a second mum who suffered at the hands of Simmons' clan told how the abuse drove her family from their home and may have even contributed to the end of her marriage. Gillian Hollis, 52, slammed police and council officials for failing to tackle the family.

She said: "They were never going to get thrown out of their house, and the kids were never going to court. We called them the Untouchables.

"In the end I couldn't take any more and had to get out - otherwise I'd have had a nervous breakdown'."

She said Simmons and his pack - who would gather outside houses at all hours - turned the street "into something out of Beirut".

An inquest heard that four other families agreed to crack down on their kids after being warned about yobbish behaviour by the council.

But Simmons' parents Steven, 43, and Suzanne, 44, were said to have treated the official warning and threats of arrest and eviction as "a joke". Suzanne said she refused to sign council agreement papers because the officials and police who brought them "wound her up".

An Asbo was issued ordering the couple to control Alex and one of his three brothers - but AFTER Fiona and Francceca died.

The parents deny that their son's actions had anything to do with the car-blaze deaths of Fiona and disabled daughter Francecca.

But neighbours, who did not want to be named, said Simmons led the hate campaign, spitting at the pair in the street, abusing them and hurling missiles at their besieged semi.

One 30-year-old revealed last night: "I walked past Fiona's house the night before she died and saw Alex Simmons there.

"He was with a gang of about ten youths screaming abuse towards the house and causing a nuisance.

"I'd had trouble with the same gang and recognised Alex straight away. He was going wild, screaming obscenities towards Fiona's house."

Another neighbour, 47, sobbed: "Fiona called me shortly before she killed herself and collapsed sobbing into my arms, begging, 'Please make them stop!' But they never let up and the police did nothing."

A 49-year-old local mum said: "It's hard to believe but things have actually got worse since Fiona killed herself. I've had nails pushed into the tyres of my cars, I've been spat at and been called a '*********g fat bitch'. The abuse is constant."

Another mum, 46, said: "You'd think that a tragedy like this would be a wake up call for the police and the council. But everything's the same."

Simmons' stocky dad Steve claims to be a self-employed groundworker but spends much time at home drinking cider and watching the family's 42-inch plasma TV.

At their scruffy home - which has a pick-up truck permanently parked in its front garden - wife Suzanne said Fiona's fragile mental state had caused the tragedy.

She claimed: "Fiona was just not right in the head. It was just a few snowballs thrown." And she insisted: "Alex is not an angel but he's not a bad boy and he wasn't there that day. Nor did he ever put fireworks through their door. My kids never have fireworks.

"He is always in bed by 11pm. We are a good family, not on the dole, not a single-parent family. My children aren't 'latchkey kids'.

"Alex left school this year and has been trying to get on a course to study more English and maths.

"Meanwhile he's working two hours a day and all day Saturday as a cleaner in a butcher's.

"How many 16-year-olds do you know who have a job? I'm actually quite proud of him - especially considering he can't read or write.

"He is dyslexic and suffers from ADHD and heart disease and asthma." Asked if she or her family had criminal records, she said: "Alex got reprimanded for shoplifting aged 13 or 14, but that's kids."

Slim, ponytailed Alex is one of four brothers. The others are Ross, 20, Mitchel, 15, and Charlie, 12. Asked about claims he had tormented the Pilkingtons, Alex shrugged: "It's all cr*p. I think everyone can shut up."

He said of Fiona: "She used to report things to the authorities like people just sitting outside her house having a fag. How stupid is that?

Asked how he felt about the fire tragedy, Alex said: "I do feel sorry for the daughter, because it wasn't the daughter's fault."

He added: "Why don't people like us? Because we're The Simmonses. Everyone thinks our family is scum. It's because of Ross, my brother. Nobody likes him, I don't know why, they just hate him. He's been in prison, for robbing. He still lives around here. He just comes in for something to eat and then f***s off again."

Outside his home, Alex boasted of having been expelled from two schools and his past as a member of the BLF - Barwell For Life gang.

Sporting his trademark black hoodie, he claimed to have smashed a bottle over one rival's head and seriously injured another by stamping his face into a kerb.

Most families in Bardon Road and the adjoining streets of 1930s-built semis are hard-working, law-abiding folk who lead decent lives.

Gillian Hollis lived there with husband Darren, 43, and their three kids for 15 years. They moved out hours before the blaze tragedy.

She said: "Trouble started when the oldest boy turned 11 or 12. Relations deteriorated. They would hurl eggs at your house, scratch your car with stones and put nails under your car tyres.

"They deliberately kicked footballs at your front door and windows and trampled on your flowers. They would shout insults.

"When you tried to reason with them you would just get a torrent of abuse. The stock reply was, 'My dad says I can do what I want.'

"If you complained to the dad, he would just shrug his shoulders, laugh and say, 'Boys will be boys.' They were the family from hell."

The couple split up 19 months later. Gillian said: "I'm not saying they were directly responsible for our break-up - but it didn't help."

Family of suicide mum’s tormentor branded ‘Untouchables’ | The Sun |News

I was reading a report yesterday about yobs like this. One senior officer stated that that the government advices police not to criminalise these yobs be arresting them or even sending them to prison because it makes them worse.

I have certainly seen this myself over the years in trouble hot spots where you see the same yobs night after night after night causing misery to residents and shop-keepers.

It is classed as Grade C crime and very low down the list of priorities when it comes to call outs. Also, in one off the record chat i had with a senior officer a few years ago, he told me that unless they actually catch them in the act, the chances of getting them to court is very slim. He also told me they were out-numbered especially if they were on BMX bikes as the moment they see a police car approach, they take off in all directions. This leads the little arssewipes to believe they are bomb proof and even when they do get caught, they blame other kids until they are blue in the face,

We live in a trouble hot spot only because we have no street lighting down our lane and it's so dark. They also have the field outside for a quick get-away as soon as a police car pulls up. We have managed to cut this to a minimum now by CCTV camera.s, halogen flood lighting as soon as they turn up and making ourselves real pests with the police. We got what we wanted in regular patrols and very often, this is all it needs. If the Scroats know that a police car is very likely to turn up unexpected at any time, it does deter them. They never dissapear though... simply move on to become some-one elses nightmare.

In the case of this poor lady and her daughter, if she had enough one night and went out there and thumped one of the little arssewipes, she would be arrested leaving them laughing all over their faces.

Put your own lights up on your property the kinds that go one at dusk and off and sunrise. My mother's street is dark with only 2 street lights at each end. We said screw that and mounted the light from hell on her garage it lights the entire block up works great. Now everyone has one on their house.

You need to take your neighborhoods back from these punks that simple they will continue till they are stopped. We have bad spots in our neighborhoods but groups of concerned citizens and police have gotten together to take them back and it works we have police substations in these areas 24/7. No kid can be on the streets after dark or they are arrested, booked and taken to Juvenile detention for starters. Need to start with the obvious keep the brats off the streets and make them pay when they break the law. Until then your spinning your wheels. :-5



[QUOTE]We live in a trouble hot spot only because we have no street lighting down our lane and it's so dark. They also have the field outside for a quick get-away as soon as a police car pulls up.[/QUOTE]