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CPS West Midlands: Successful Hate Crime Cases March 2023

|News, Hate crime

In March 2023, CPS West Midlands Magistrates' and Crown Court units successfully prosecuted various hate crime cases.

On 13 August 2022, the defendant was arrested following disorder after the Bolton vs Port Vale football match at Manchester Piccadilly. The defendant, who was not a Bolton supporter, approached the other fans and pushed the barrier towards them with force. After he was arrested, he continued to be obstructive and racially abused one of the officers.  He was charged with a racially aggravated s4A Public Order Act offence, obstructing a police officer, and being drunk and disorderly.

He was sentenced at Bolton Magistrates’ Court on 10 March 2023 to a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work for the racially aggravated public order which had been increased by 50 hours to reflect the hate crime.  He also received 120 days alcohol monitoring and 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days.  He received a concurrent community order for obstructing the officer and no separate penalty for the drunk and disorderly offence.  The court imposed a four-year football banning order and ordered the defendant to pay £100 compensation to each officer together with £85 costs and the Victim Surcharge of £114.

On 27 February 2023, the defendant from Birmingham racially abused a police officer after he was arrested for taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, drink driving, driving whilst disqualified and driving without insurance. He was also charged with obstructing a police officer and a racially aggravated s4A Public Order Act offence.

He appeared at Newcastle Under Lyme Magistrates’ Court on 1 March 2023 where he pleaded guilty to all offences. He received a 12-week custodial sentence for driving whilst disqualified and a further five weeks imprisonment for the racially aggravated public order offence, to be served consecutively to the 12-week sentence.  He was informed that the length of the sentence had been increased by one week to reflect the hate crime.  He received a two-week concurrent sentence for drink driving together with a three-year disqualification from driving.  He received a two-week concurrent sentence for taking the vehicle and was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to the officer and to pay the victim surcharge of £154.

On 25 July 2022, the defendant entered an Asda store in Cannock after having been banned from the store. He threatened to stab staff members who asked him to leave, and he repeatedly racially abused one staff member and directed homophobic abuse at the other. The defendant was later arrested and charged with a racially aggravated s4A Public Order Act offence to reflect his racist behaviour towards one victim and a s4 Public Order Act offence to reflect his homophobic behaviour towards the other victim.
The defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced at the first hearing at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on 3 March 2023.  The court imposed a 12-month community order which included 60 hours unpaid work, the number of hours of unpaid work was increased by 20 to reflect the hate crime.  He was also ordered to pay £135 costs and the victim surcharge of £114.

On 7 July 2022, the defendant approached the victim and his partner who were waiting for a train at Llandrindod.  He directed a tirade of homophobic abuse at them before walking to the ticket office and making further homophobic comments about them to staff there.  He then started to follow them. The police were called and he was arrested and charged with a s4A Public Order Act offence. He pleaded guilty at the first hearing at Llandrindod Magistrates’ Court on 15 March 2023 and received a 12-month community order which included 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days which had been increased by two to reflect the hate crime.  He was also ordered to pay £85 costs.

On 18 August 2022, the defendant had been arrested for other matters when they racially abused a custody officer. They were charged with a racially aggravated s4A Public Order Act offence. On 12 January 2023, the defendant breached a restraining order imposed to protect somebody they had previously threatened.  They were arrested on 27 January 2023 and they racially abused and threatened one officer and while in custody tried to bite the custody sergeant.  They were charged with breaching the restraining order, a racially aggravated s4A Public Order Act offence, and assaulting an emergency worker.

The defendant pleaded guilty to all matters on 16 March 2023 and was sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court. They received a 16-week custodial sentence for breaching the restraining order and a further 12-week custodial sentence for the racially aggravated s4A Public Order offence. They were informed that sentence had been increased by four weeks to reflect the hate crime. They received an 8-week concurrent sentence for assaulting the emergency worker and a further 12-week custodial sentence consecutive sentence for the racially aggravated offence committed in August 2022.  The defendant received a total sentence of 40 weeks in custody.

On 17 February 2021, following his arrest, the 31-year-old defendant from Barking used racist language towards a police officer who had detained him on suspicion of a drug deal at a train station and was charged with a racially aggravated S4A public order offence which he admitted. He also pleaded guilty to being involved in the supply and distribution of drugs.  He was sentenced on 16 March 2023 and during sentencing, the judge uplifted the sentence from a community order to a custodial sentence of three weeks imprisonment to run consecutively to a 34-week sentence for being concerned in the supply of class B drugs. The 37 weeks imprisonment was suspended for a period of 18 months with a requirement that the defendant completes 15 hours of unpaid work and 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.

On Friday 11 March 2022, during the West Bromwich Albion versus Huddersfield FC championship fixture at the Hawthorns, a 22-year-old Solihull man directed sustained and repeated extreme racial slurs towards one of the stewards during the heated football match, which was overheard by other supporters. He was subsequently charged with a racially aggravated public order offence. He was convicted after trial on 18 October 2022 at Walsall Magistrates’ Court and received a financial penalty of £346 and was ordered to pay costs of £750 and the victim surcharge of £35. However, he did not receive a football banning order which the Crown Prosecution Service appealed and on 2 March 2023, the court found in favour of the appeal and consequently imposed a three-year-football banning order. 

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