July 2011: Hate Crime

27/07/2011

Hate Crime is as much of an issue today as it has ever been. Tackling hate crime in all its forms remains a high priority for CPS East Midlands.

Hate crime can take many forms, from name-calling and physical attacks to offensive graffiti, abusive gestures or even murder. It is based on hostility towards someone's race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, and often victims are not aware that what they are experiencing is a crime.

The challenge is therefore for us not just to prosecute cases of hate crime firmly, but to help people understand what hate crime means. Targeting someone because of who they are is simply unacceptable. Similarly, if someone is being targeted they need to know that the law is behind them.

This month I had the pleasure of speaking at a hate crime event, organised by Nottingham Equal. I was able to share with them the stories behind a race hate crime, a homophobic hate crime and a disability hate crime. We went through the evidence needed to prosecute the cases successfully and how the presentation of our case enabled the court to take the hate crime elements into account.

We have had a number of successes with racially and religiously aggravated crimes recently. For instance, one of our prosecutors was given very positive feedback from the Muslim community in Lincoln for the way she dealt with a case of religiously aggravated threatening behaviour and common assault, which resulted in the conviction of a man and a youth. This case also provided some valuable learning for our prosecutors about the way we support Muslim witnesses.

However, we do consider that the numbers of disability hate crimes are still under reported. There could be any number of reasons for this and we are committed to making our contribution to increasing the number of cases reported, whether this is through a better understanding of what constitutes hate crime, or helping people understand the support they can have from the criminal justice system as victims. We are working with people in our communities, in particular through our public engagement panels, (inc link to panels page) to help increase the number of people who will recognise and report hate crimes.

Hate crimes are committed against some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Proving that a crime has been motivated by hatred of the victims race, religion, sexuality or disability adds what is called an aggravating feature to the offence, which makes it more serious. This gives the courts the power to impose a heavier sentence.

Above all we want to ensure that everybody in our communities can live safely and without fear of being victimised because of who they are. If you or anyone you know feels that you are the victim of a hate crime, please report it to the police. Even what might appear to you to be a minor matter, it may still be an offence. Where there is sufficient evidence and prosecuting is in the public interest, the CPS will put the strongest possible case before the courts.