Abuse claims reach record 100,000 a year

THE number of hate crimes reported to police has reached 100,000 a year for the first time.

Home Office figures showed a 10 per cent increase this year, with a surge in allegations of homophobic and transphobic abuse.

Police must record an incident as a hate crime if a victim believes they were targeted over their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender.

There were 103,379 such reports in England and Wales in 2018/19, up from just over 94,000 in the previous 12 months. Transgender hate crimes jumped 37 per cent, to 2,333, and there were 14,500 cases involving sexual orientation, an increase of 25 per cent.

The number of incidents has more than doubled since 2012/13 when just 42,255 hate crimes were logged. The Home Office said the rise was partly down to improvements in recording methods, but admitted it could also reflect a ‘real rise’ in crime levels.

There were 79,000 reports of race hate crimes, up 11 per cent, and incidents involving religious hate rose 3 per cent to 8,500.