Advanced Search

Hate Crime

Hate crime is any criminal offence committed against a person or property that is motivated by hostility towards someone based on their disability, race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation:

Find out more about how we prosecute hate crime

Prosecuting Homicide

Murder and manslaughter are two of the offences that constitute homicide.

Manslaughter can be committed in one of three ways:

  1. killing with the intent for murder but where there is provocation, diminished responsibility or a suicide pact.
  2. conduct that was grossly negligent given the risk of death, and resulted in death.
  3. conduct, taking the form of an unlawful act involving a danger of some harm, that caused death.

With some exceptions, the crime of murder is committed, where a person:

  • of sound mind and discretion (i.e. sane):
  • unlawfully kills (i.e. not self-defence or other justified killing)
  • any reasonable creature (human being)
  • in being (born alive and breathing through its own lungs)
  • under the Queen's Peace
  • with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm.

There are other specific homicide offences, for example, infanticide, causing death by dangerous driving, and corporate manslaughter.

Find out more about prosecuting homicide

Home » News Centre » Press Releases » CPS determined to tackle homophobic crime

CPS determined to tackle homophobic crime

16/06/2006

Thomas Pickford and Scott Walker were today sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 28 years for the murder of Jody Dobrowski on Clapham Common, South London, on 15 October 2005. They had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing. It is believed that this is the first instance where a judge has been able to use motivation on the basis of sexual orientation as an aggravating factor when sentencing for murder.

Jaswant Narwal, District Crown Prosecutor at the Old Bailey Trials Unit said: "This was a truly shocking crime. Jody was beaten to death for no other reason than being gay. Pickford and Walker have taken the life of a young man who we were told was gentle and enthusiastic about life, loved by friends and family.

"Pickford and Walker were determined to attack a gay man. There was no doubt that this was a homophobic killing and we treated it as such from the outset. If the defendants had not pleaded guilty we had ample evidence to show this motive."

Because of the sensitivities, the Crown Prosecution Service worked with the Metropolitan Police Service who liaised with the LGBT (Lesbian Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community through their dedicated LGBT officers. While instances such as this are thankfully rare, the CPS is determined to tackle all types of crime with a homophobic element.

Each CPS area in England and Wales now has at least one homophobic crime co-ordinator. Co-ordinators are trained to provide guidance to prosecutors and agents, work closely with the local police and other agencies on casework and operational issues to encourage consistency of aims and approach, advise on victim and witness care issues and make links with the local LGBT community.

Indications from CPS management data show that between April 2005 and March 2006, the CPS prosecuted 600 cases identified as having a homophobic element (there is no specific homophobic offence). Of these, 346 resulted in a guilty plea and a further 80 resulted in conviction after trial. The conviction rate remained as last year at 71 per cent. This is the second full set of figures for all 42 CPS Areas.

Seamus Taylor, Director of Equality and Diversity, said: "These figures are a stark reminder of the reality of homophobic crime. By prosecuting these crimes through the criminal courts, we intend to demonstrate that such behaviour is not acceptable.

"The figures also hopefully indicate an increased confidence on the part of LGBT communities to report homophobic crime. Hate crime strikes at the heart of our diverse society. We will prosecute all hate crime robustly and rigorously."

  1. Previous figures: between April 2004 and March 2005, the CPS identified 317 homophobic crime cases. Of these, 190 resulted in a guilty plea and a further 34 resulted in conviction after trial. Thus 73 cases - 71 per cent of the total- resulted in a conviction. See the press release - CPS publish first full set of homophobic crime figures - on this website
  2. There is no statutory definition of a homophobic or transphobic incident. However, when prosecuting such cases, and to help us to apply our policy on dealing with cases with a homophobic element, the CPS adopts the following definition:

     

    "Any incident which is perceived to be homophobic or transphobic by the victim or by any other person."

  3. Section 146 Criminal Justice Act 2003 came into effect from 4 April 2005. This section requires a court to treat as an aggravating feature for sentence, hostility based on sexual orientation (or presumed). Although this does not create new offences akin to Racially or Religiously Aggravated offences, it now provides a statutory backing for the way in which CPS policy had sought to ensure that the homophobic element of an offence was treated as an aggravating feature, and be reflected in the sentence. Prosecutors can now remind the court that they must treat it as an aggravating feature, rather than requesting that they do so.
  4. For more detail on how the CPS prosecutes cases with a homophobic element go to the policy statement on our website.
  5. Media enquiries to CPS headquarters press office on 020 7710 6088.