CPS publishes latest racist and religious crime data

11/11/2005

The Crown Prosecution Service prosecuted 4,660 defendants for racially aggravated offences between April 1, 2004 and March 31 2005, according to a report published today. This has risen by 29 per cent over 2003 - 2004. The conviction rate for all offences charged was 84 per cent compared to 86 per cent in 2003 - 2004.

Ken Macdonald QC, Director of Public Prosecutions said:

"Racist and religious crime does not simply injure the victim or their property; it affects the whole family and erodes the standards of decency of the wider community. We are determined to prosecute robustly wherever and whenever we can.

"Last year many CPS Areas moved to working with the police, giving on the spot legal advice and helping to construct trial-ready cases. This is reflected in that compared to the last set of figures, eight per cent fewer racially aggravated charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence. We have also worked hard to ensure that with our new IT systems racist crime prosecutions are properly recorded."

Eight per cent fewer charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence - down from 45 to 37 per cent, but witnesses refusing to give evidence or failing to attend contributed to a further 31 per cent of charges being dropped, a five per cent increase.

The CPS is tackling witness failures through the No Witness No Justice Project, annouced in 2004. There are now 126 witness care units in operation across the 42 CPS Areas with complete roll-out of 165 by the end of the year. These units bring together the police and CPS to provide support and a single point of contact for victims and witnesses.

Religiously aggravated offences

Between April 1, 2004 and March 31 2005, 34 cases were finalized and recorded as religious incidents under the CPS monitoring scheme. This compares to 49 in 2003 - 2004. Each religiously aggravated case can refer to more than one defendant.

A total of 43 religiously aggravated charges were prosecuted, of which 33 had specificallty religiously aggravated charges - down from 44 religiously aggravated charges in 2003 - 2004. Defendants also faced a number of non-religiously aggravated charges, such as assault.

The actual or perceived religion of the victim in 23 of the 34 cases - 67 per cent - was Muslim. In two cases the defendant was Muslim. In the remaining cases, the victims were Christian (4), Hindu (2), and Mormon (1). It is not always possible to identify the religion of the victim, and this happened in four cases.

A guilty plea was submitted in 47 per cent of offences with an overall conviction rate of 77 per cent, the same as last year. The breakdown of religiously aggravated offences mirrors racially aggravated offences. Public order was the predominant offence followed by assault, criminal damage and harassment.

Notes to Editors

Electronic versions of the report are available on request and also on this website - Racist Incident Monitoring Report 2004-2005 PDF, as well as the CPS policy on prosecuting racist and religious crime in our Publications section.

1. For further information contact the CPS Press Office on 020 7710 6088.

 

Racially aggravated case studies

1. In June 2004 a Liverpool football fan was jailed for two years for racially aggravated assault against a fellow supporter who he verbally abused and punched in the face.
2. A boy from Kent - who was 13 at the time of the offence - was convicted of racially aggravated criminal damage and assault in 2004. He slashed a black road sweeper across the face with a knife after attacking him with a golf club. The CPS believes he is the youngest person to be convicted of racially aggravated crimes.
3. In November 2004 a man pleaded guilty to making over 90 calls to numerous synagogues in North London, threatening to blow them up, and being abusive. He made racist comments throughout. It was the largest number of racially motivated offences the Crown Prosecution Service has ever had to deal with for one person. After psychiatric reports he sentenced to a three-year Community Rehabilitation Order and treatment at a drug and alcohol centre.

Religiously aggravated case studies

1. A 17 year old naval rating based at Gosport, Hampshire, was found guilty of religiously aggravated criminal damage in September 2004 after having damaged copies of the Koran and placed a prayer mat in a toilet in a prayer room. He was sentenced to a two year Community Rehabilitation order.
2. In November 2004 a man pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated common assault at Harrow Crown Court after throwing items at a Hindu temple and causing damage. He was sentenced to 70 hours Community Service Order and ordered to pay a Compensation Order for 500.
3. Three youths who desecrated 45 Muslim and one Catholic grave in Charlton, southeast London, were found guilty of conspiracy to cause religiously aggravated criminal damage and given 12-month Community Rehabilitation orders by Inner London Crown Court in February 2005.
2. The Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 amended the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to create new religiously aggravated offences. This provision came into effect on 14 December 2001. The offences capable of being charged as religiously aggravated offences can be divided into four broad categories:

 

• Assaults
• Public Order offences
• Criminal Damage
• Harassment offences

The Act also introduced a requirement for courts sentencing offenders to treat more seriously any offence (other than one of the specific religiously aggravated offences) which was found to be religiously aggravated. (This mirrored the provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 relating to racially aggravated offences).

3. The Racial Incident Monitoring Scheme Annual Report 2004-2005 contains information compiled by the Crown Prosecution Service on prosecution decisions and outcomes in all cases identified by the police or CPS as racist incidents between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005. It provides the following information:

 

• The number of racist incident defendant cases submitted by CPS areas during the reporting period;
• CPS decisions on charges put by the police;
• Details of charges prosecuted;
• Details of charges dropped;
• Outcomes of charges prosecuted in the Magistrates Courts the Crown Courts and Youth Courts; and:
• Figures for religiously aggravated crimes.
4. Racially aggravated charges are sometimes withdrawn through lack of evidence or if the victim wishes to make a retraction, but there can still be a prosecution for the standard offence (e.g. assault or criminal damage).
5. For the purposes of the report, the police and CPS have used the definition provided in the Macpherson report which states that 'a racist incident is an incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person'. A similar definition has been adopted by the CPS for religious incidents.
6. Section 28 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 defined an offence as racially aggravated if the offender demonstrates racial hostility towards the victim at the time of, or before or after, committing an offence; or is motivated wholly or partly by hostility towards members of a racial group. It created specific offences of racially aggravated assault, criminal damage, public order and harassment. Additionally, section 153 of the Powers of Criminal courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (replacing section 82 of the 1998 Act) imposes a duty on sentencing courts to treat evidence of racial aggravation as an aggravating feature, increasing the seriousness of the offence and the sentence to be imposed, in cases where offences are not specifically charged under the 1998 Act.