Hate crime reports have doubled in last five years
First were convicted of religiously-aggravated harassment after targeting Muslims they incorrectly believed were involved in an ongoing rape trial.
The majority of the crimes recorded in West Yorkshire involved harassment, alarm or distress, similar to the offences committed by Britain First’s leaders, but nearly one in every five cases involved assault – many of which resulted in injury.
However, despite the number of hate crimes being recorded by police going up over the last year, the proportion resulting in a charge or summons actually fell over the same period to just 18%.
While the increase partly reflects ongoing improvements in crime recording by the police, the Home Office also link it to a genuine rise in hate crime following the EU referendum.
Rose Simkins, chief executive of Stop Hate UK, said: “It is clear to see that in the period of 2016-17 that this had dramatically shifted back to race motivations in all four quarters of the year.
“If you look at the reporting period, the standout event was the EU referendum in June 2016. This historic vote saw our own services being really tested, as contacts made to Stop Hate UK increased over 60% in weeks directly after the result was known.
“So, while we are saddened by the figures from the Ministry of Justice, it reflects and reinforces the figures we saw in the same period.”
Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said: “We have been running a joint ‘Hate Hurts’ campaign along with West Yorkshire Police and wider partners for the last few years to encourage victims of hate crime and/or incidents to report them whenever appropriate.
“I will continue to encourage anyone who feels that they have been the victim of a hate crime or incident due to their disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity and to report it to the police or via a third party reporting centre, this will ensure they get the right support and offenders are identified and dealt with appropriately.
“I have also funded a number of initiatives throughout West Yorkshire, including the creation of a hate crime reporting app with Stop Hate UK. The app is free to download and use, and helps to record evidence and offers a range of reporting options which is unique to West Yorkshire.
“To find out more about the app visit https://www.stophateuk.org/resources/westyorkshire-hate-crime-reporting-app/.”