Getting tough on racist crime

11/11/2005

Figures released today by Derbyshire Crown Prosecution Service show that more perpetrators of racially aggravated crime are being prosecuted in the county's courts than ever before.

Between April 2004 and March 2005 92% of all defendants charged with committing a racist offence were taken to court and prosecuted.  This represents a 29% increase from the previous year. 

In total, 60 defendants in Derbyshire were charged with a total of 93 racist offences.  The majority of charges prosecuted were for racially aggravated public order offences and racially aggravated assaults. 

The number of charges that were not proceeded with fell from 45% during 2003/04 to 18% during 2004/05.  The majority of these charges were not proceeded with due to insufficient evidence. 

Commenting on the figures Derbyshire's Chief Crown Prosecutor Brian Gunn said: "Racist crime is motivated by prejudice, discrimination and hatred and as such has no place in a civilised and democratic society.  The CPS, along with our partners in the criminal justice system, is committed to tackling this form of hate crime whenever and wherever we can.

"In previous years about a fifth of racist and religious crime prosecutions were not proceeded with because of witness difficulties.  However in Derbyshire this year we've seen a dramatic improvement.  Between April 2004 and March 2005 we didn't have to drop any charges because a witness failed to attend court or refused to give evidence.  This is hugely encouraging and demonstrates that more people are finding the confidence to seek justice through the courts, knowing they will be fully supported throughout any criminal proceedings.  

"During the year we've introduced the No Witness, No Justice initiative; which has involved the establishment of three witness care units across the county providing dedicated and improved support for witnesses and victims.  Staff in these units are on hand to address the particular needs and concerns of victims in racist cases and give them the support they need to give evidence in court.

"We hope that the roll out of new statutory procedures for charging suspects will enable us to continue to reduce the number of racist and religiously aggravated cases we arent able to proceed with due to lack of sufficient evidence.  CPS lawyers are already working alongside police in the countys four police charging centres, becoming involved in cases at an earlier stage and taking responsibility for charging defendants.  This means we can quickly identify those cases that should be prosecuted as racially or religiously aggravated offences, and enables our prosecutors to give early advice to police on the evidence required to support those charges in order to prepare a strong prosecution case. 

"Although the conviction rate remains high in Derbyshire for this form of hate crime, we know there will still be incidents that go unreported.  I would urge anyone who has been a victim of a racially or religiously motivated crime to come forward and report the offence to the police.  I can assure all communities in Derbyshire that we will continue to give such cases our highest priority."