Religious Hatred
(asked on 5th December 2014) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of inciting religious hatred in each of the last five years.
Hate crime of any form is unacceptable and taken very seriously by the Government. That’s why there are tough sentencing options available to the courts and we’re working with the police to increase reporting of these terrible offences. This country has some of the toughest laws in the world around hate crime and offenders who commit such crimes should be in no doubt that they will face a more severe sentence.
The number of offenders found guilty of offences relating to inciting racial and religious hatred in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2013, can be viewed in the table.
Offenders found guilty at all courts of offences related to racial (1) or religious hatred (2), England and Wales, 2009 to 2013 (3)(4)(5) | |||||
Group | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
Racial | 6 | 9 | 6 | - | 3 |
Religious | 2 | 2 | - | - | 1 |
'-' = Nil | |||||
(1) Offences under SS 18 - 22 Public Order Act 1986, stirring up hatred on the grounds of race.
(2) Offences under SS 29B - 29 F Public Order Act 1986, stirring up hatred on the grounds of religion.
(3) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
(5) Prior to 23 March 2010, only acts intended to stir up religious hatred were reported. When Sections 29B to 29G of the Public Order Act 1986 were amended by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, offences for acts intended to stir up hatred on grounds of sexual orientation were added to offences for acts intended to stir up religious hatred.
Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.
Ref: PQ 217289 217290