Dramatic rise in hate crimes in wake of terrorist attacks

HATE crime rose sharply in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London earlier this year, Home Office figures indicate.

Official statistics showed that there were 80,393 hate crimes recorded by police in the year to March, an increase of 29 per cent on the 62,518 during the same period the previous year.

Preliminary data for the period since March this year also showed spikes in hate crimes following the attacks in Manchester in May and in London Bridge and Borough Market in June.

The Home Office said that as well as a rise in crimes some of the increase was due to “ongoing improvements in crime recording by the police”.

New hate crime guidance published in 2014 by the College of Policing states that “the perception of the victim, or any other person” is a defining factor in determining whether a hate crime has taken place. It says that police should not question a victim or witness’s impression that a crime was motivated by hate or prejudice, and that “evidence of the hostility is not required for an incident or crime to be recorded as a hate crime or hate incident”. The guidance replaced a 2005 document published by the Association of Chief Police Officers, which also included the perception-based definition.

Earlier this year the ONS said that the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard had pushed up reports since 2014.