The number of defendants dealt with by the Crown Prosecution Service for racially motivated crimes rose by 12.4 per cent last year according to a report published today. The report also includes figures for religiously aggravated crimes for the first time.
Imran Hussain, Head of Advocacy at the Refugee Council, responded to the report by saying:
“These statistics show hate crime is a real problem in our society. We have raised our concerns previously that the hostile and vitriolic language used about asylum seekers helps cultivate a climate that allows discrimination and harassment to take place.
“We are pleased that the CPS is encouraging the victims of these crimes to report the crimes to the police, and that there is a high rate of conviction.”
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