CPS North East: Hate Crime Sentence Uplifts, December 2022

Under hate crime legislation the courts must pass increased sentences where prosecutors show evidence that offences either demonstrate or have been motivated by hostility towards a person’s race, religion, disability, transgender identity or sexuality. Below are examples of hate crime cases recently prosecuted by CPS North East, each of which resulted in a conviction and an uplifted sentence.

Case 1: Racial hate crime

The defendant has approached the victim’s house and been verbally abusive to him, including making racial slurs.
The District Judge confirmed that. without the racial hate crime element, the sentence would have been a community order. However, given the incident involved racial abuse, the defendant received a custodial sentence of 3 months, which was suspended for 18 months.

Case 2: Homophobic hate crime

The defendant was convicted of a homophobic s.5 Public Order Act offence after he made a homophobic comment to the victim. As a result of the hate crime element, the defendant had their fine increased by one third. The defendant was also ordered to pay compensation to the victim.

Case 3: Racial hate crime

The defendant was arrested on suspicion of committing a criminal offence and whilst being transported to police custody has subjected the police officer to racial slurs. The defendant received a custodial sentence of 16 weeks for all offences. This was uplifted from twelve weeks due to the racial element of the offence against the police officer.

Case 4: Disability hate crime

The defendant and victim are neighbours and during an argument the defendant has made comments about the disability of one of the victim’s family members. The defendant was found guilty after trial and received a twelve-month community order, which included him having to complete an additional 20 Rehabilitation Activity days due to the hate crime element. The defendant was also made subject of a restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim.

Case 5: Racial hate crime

The defendant was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence after subjecting staff at a community centre to racial abuse. The court confirmed the defendant would have received a community order for this offence but, due to the racial hate element, he received a custodial sentence of four months which was suspended for twelve months