Samantha Renke, an actress known for appearances on BBC and ITV shows including Loose Women, BBC Morning Live and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, has described being targeted in a series of ableist incidents. She said a man once held a pretend "gun" up to her head and that the abuse she faces goes beyond "daily micro-aggressions" into "out and out hate".
Born with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, Renke is 102 centimetres tall and uses a wheelchair. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk at CrimeCon, London's true crime convention, she explained that she was inspired to give a speech on crimes against the disabled community after wanting to know more about what drives perpetrators to their actions.
Ableism and hate crimes
Renke said: "I love the criminology [aspect of true crime] more so than the twisted, sadistic parts. The morbid curiosity doesn't intrigue me as much as the psychology."
"Because I experience ableism and disability discrimination, for me it was a coping strategy to understand why people are targeting me with hate crimes. What's their psyche?" She added that she tended to watch programmes featuring professionals, praising Emma Kenny: "Emma Kenny did a really good job because everything she does it through the lens of a professional. I think that's my main hook."
Violent outbursts and abuse
Renke described how ableism can be "out and out hate" or "very insidious", and said she dislikes the term micro-aggressions because it "diminishes what we experience". She recounted an incident at Euston Station: "I recently had a group of young men, adult men, come up to me at Euston Station. They got very close to me and said, 'Oi lads, would you want to f*** that?' I was with someone from Euston Station and they didn't know what to do, they just froze."
She also said: "I've had someone come up to me and put a pretend gun, with their fingers, up to my head." Renke mentioned occasions with taxi drivers where ramps were broken and she pointed out it was illegal, leading to verbal abuse: "A grown man screaming at me and nobody interjects…"
Activism and filicide speech
Despite her physical limitations, Renke said: "Although physically I'm not strong, I am a gobby northerner and I won't stand for it. This is why I do a lot of my activism."
Her talk focused on filicide, examining case studies where disabled people were killed by family members, often framed as mercy killings. This included the case of 79-year-old June Knight, who was pushed off the fire escape of her Essex care home by her own son. Renke noted: "She had Alzheimer's, she was having end-of-life care in a nursing home. Her son, one day, threw her out of a window of the care home. The way that was depicted was, Judge Samantha Lee actually said, 'You are someone who acted out of love'."
