Prosecutions for hate crimes rose by 9% during 2015-16, seeing 56 more cases taken to court across the Wessex region of Dorset, Hampshire, Wessex and the Isle of Wight – including the harassment of 2 Islanders with learning disabilities.
The Crown Prosecution Service for Wessex secured the conviction of 3 defendants after 2 local people were victims to a catalogue of harassment over the course of 6 months. The pair were subjected to the defendants knocking on windows and doors (on one occasion whilst wearing masks), throwing stones at windows and a pumpkin at the door, climbing over fences, abuse in the street and criminal damage (window smashed, Halloween scarecrow damaged, and damage to electricity box supplying the property).
Thanks to the efforts of Police and the CPS Wessex, the defendants were given a 12 month youth rehabilitation order with supervision order, curfew and prohibition from socialising together. One defendant was given detention and training order totalling for 8 months in custody, reduced to 6 months on appeal.
Following the publication of the CPS Hate Crime Report for 2014 – 2016, Steve Hoolohan, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor and Senior Hate Crime lead for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). said:
“Hate crime is driven by prejudice and hostility based upon a person’s race, gender, sexuality, religion, age or disability. It affects not only victims but also communities, creating an atmosphere of fear and distress. It is important that communities understand we treat hate crime very seriously and I would like to thank those victims that have come forward and reported such incidents and encourage those who have not to report incidents to the police, knowing that the CPS will do all it can to support them and bring offenders to justice.
“Of the 672 prosecutions across Wessex 86.6% have resulted in a conviction, with 90.8% (528 defendants) of defendants pleading guilty, removing the need for their victim to give evidence in court.
“In January 2015 CPS nationally introduced a number of measures aimed at improving performance in hate crime cases. In Wessex we have moved at considerable pace to embed these measures and have developed a challenging action plan to drive up performance which included working with the police to bring in a service level agreement for how hate crime cases will be investigated and prosecuted in Wessex. In addition we have introduced a new assurance regime and rolled out training to all prosecutors on disability hate crime.
“We have continued to work with partners and communities to understand the barriers in relation to reporting hate crime, and looked at best practice from around the country which we have used to shape the multi-agency approach to hate crime to make services better for victims.
Article continues below this advertisement “We have continued working with the Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel over the year. The panel is made up of community members and partners including the police with an interest / experience in hate crime. The panel is an essential part of our plan aimed at improving the reporting of and our response to hate crimes. The panel through their scrutiny help us and the police identify lessons to be learnt and good practice in relation to the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes. In particular the panel has assisted us in improving the quality of our letters to victims to communicate decisions to stop or alter charges.”
Professor Chris Lewis, from Portsmouth University, independent facilitator of CPS Wessex Scrutiny and Involvement Panel said:
“The Panel consists of volunteers drawn from different community groups. It looks in detail at 20-30 completed Hate Crime cases each year and draws attention of the Police, CPS and the Courts to where we feel improvements could be made. I would like to thank all members of the Panel for their work during the year in scrutinising Hate Crime Cases.
“We are not a closed group and I would like to encourage others with a concern for hate crime to apply to join the Scrutiny Panel, in particular young people, victims or friends of victims.
“It is good to see that Wessex has a high conviction rate for Hate Crimes. However, I am sure that the cases that come to the justice system are just the tip of the iceberg. Many more go unreported, thus denying justice to the victims. It is vital to improve the reporting of Hate crimes and I urge all those who are victims of Hate Crime or who see Hate Crimes being committed to report the incidents to the Police. It is also important to give evidence against offenders in court if requested.
“I should also like to encourage local communities to discuss the work of the panel and to send in ways in which they feel the prosecution of hate crime could be improved.”
