CPS North East - Hate Crime Sentence Uplifts - September 2023

Under hate crime legislation the courts must pass increased sentences where prosecutors show evidence that offences either demonstrate or have been motivated by hostility towards a person’s race, religion, disability, transgender identity or sexuality. Below are examples of hate crime cases recently prosecuted by CPS North East, each of which resulted in a conviction and an uplifted sentence.

Case Study 1: Racist Hate Crime

Officers have attended an unrelated incident and the defendant has been racially abusive to an officer whilst also attempting to assault him on two separate occasions by biting and kicking him. The defendant pleaded guilty to two racially aggravated assaults of an emergency worker. The defendant would have been sentenced to a high-level community order but due to the hate crime element, was given an immediate custodial sentence of six weeks.

Case Study 2: Homophobic Hate Crime

The defendant was charged with sending an electronic communication with intent to cause distress and anxiety, after sending a threatening and homophobic comment to the victim. The defendant was sentenced for the above offence, along with other matters, to immediate custody. He was given 26 weeks’ custody for the other matters and 20 weeks for this offence, which was to run concurrently. The sentence would have been one of 16 weeks but due to the homophobic hate crime element it was increased by four weeks to 20 weeks. 

Case Study 3: Racist Hate Crime

The defendant has attended hospital for treatment but then began to verbally abuse members of staff who tried to assist him, including making a racial slur to one member of staff. The defendant was sentenced to a total of four weeks’ immediate imprisonment, uplifted from two weeks to reflect the racially aggravated nature of the offence.

Case Study 4: Homophobic Hate Crime

The complainant, a nurse, was subjected to homophobic comments by the defendant on two separate occasions. The defendant pleaded guilty to an offence of harassment without violence which was homophobically motivated. The defendant was sentenced to a more onerous community sentence as a result of the hate crime element. The defendant was also ordered to pay compensation to the victim.