CPS North East - Hate Crime Sentence Uplifts - June 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
The defendant was charged with an offence of Attempt Robbery which was racially aggravated along with a separate racially aggravated assault. The defendant received a total sentence of six years' immediate custody. This would have been five years' imprisonment, but the sentence was uplifted by one year due to the hate crime element.
Case Study 2: Homophobic Hate Crime
The defendant was arrested for an unrelated matter and during her arrest, she has spat at the officer whilst also subjecting the officer to homophobic comments. The defendant would have received a community order, but the DJ imposed a sentence of immediate custody of 16 weeks due to the hate crime element and the fact the assault was against a police officer who was carrying out his public duty.
Case Study 3: Religious Hate Crime
The defendant was charged with a number of offences including a religiously aggravated s.39 assault. In passing sentence, the court said the sentence for the hate crime offence would have been a one-month concurrent sentence but instead due to hate crime, made it a one-month consecutive sentence due to it being religiously aggravated.
Case Study 4: Homophobic Hate Crime
The defendant was arrested for an unrelated offence and during the course of her arrest, has directed homophobic comments to the victim. The defendant received a sentence of four months' imprisonment, suspended for twelve months. The DJ outlined he would have imposed a community order but, due to the hate crime element, a term of imprisonment that was suspended was the uplift.