CPS West Midlands: Successful Hate Crime Cases April 2023

In April 2023, CPS West Midlands Magistrates' and Crown Court units successfully prosecuted various hate crime cases.

On 27 April 2023, the 43-year-old defendant from Great Chesterford pleaded guilty to a religiously aggravated s4A Public Order Act offence after he behaved aggressively at St Pancras underground station and shouted Islamophobic abuse towards a PCSO last year. He was sentenced at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on the same day, and he received a fine of £1500 which had been increased by £200 to reflect the hate crime. He was also ordered to pay £300 compensation to the officer and to pay the victim surcharge of £190.

A 34-year-old Wirral woman who hurled homophobic abuse at a victim on a train and physically assaulted a second victim, was sentenced on 11 April 2023 after she was convicted of using threatening words or behaviour, assaulting a person and assault by beating. She was sentenced at Liverpool/Knowsley Magistrates’ Court received a 52-week sentence of imprisonment for the s47 assault, which was suspended for 18 months, and had been increased by 12 weeks to reflect the hate crime. She was ordered to take part in 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay £350 compensation to the victim of the assault, £250 compensation to the other victim and a £200 fine which was increased to reflect the hate crime.  She was also ordered to pay the £156 victim surcharge and £200 prosecution costs. A restraining order was also imposed ordering her to keep away from the three victims.

On 28 April 2023, the 49-year-old Birmingham woman was sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court for racially aggravated assault, racially aggravated assault by beating and s39 assault following an incident in the multi occupancy house she lived in. She had previously admitted racially abusing a resident, racially and physically abusing a second resident and physically assaulting a third resident who intervened in September 2022. She received a 12-week custodial sentence for each racially aggravated offence which was suspended for 12 months but increased by three weeks due to the hate crime. She received a concurrent 10-week sentence for the other assault and was ordered to pay £75 to each of the two victims of the racially aggravated offences and £50 to the other victim.

On 5 April 2023, the 42-year-old defendant of no fixed abode pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence at Telford Magistrates’ Court after he racially abused and threatened a security guard. The court imposed a 6-month sentence of imprisonment for the racially aggravated public order offence which was suspended for 18 months and had been increased by two months to reflect the hate crime. The court also made a community order for 18 months which included 120 days alcohol abstinence monitoring and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.  

On 5 April 2023, the 30-year-old Stoke-on-Trent man was sentenced at Newcastle Under Lyme Magistrates’ Court following a late guilty plea for harassing his ex-partner, damaging her property and racially abusing her new partner last August. He received a 24-month community order which included 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a fine of £262 which was doubled to reflect the hate crime. He was also ordered to pay £540 compensation, the £114 victim surcharge and £250 costs.  He was ordered to keep away from his ex-partner for two years.

While being arrested for robbery, the 33-year-old from Sandwell made racist remarks towards a security guard. He pleaded guilty to robbery and a racially aggravated S4A public order offence and was sentenced on 28 April 2023 at Birmingham Crown Court. The judge uplifted the sentence for the racially aggravated offence from four weeks imprisonment to six weeks imprisonment. The defendant was also sentenced to 12 months for the offence of robbery and nine years for a separate offence of rape.

The 33-year-old Stoke-on-Trent defendant was sentenced on 21 April 2023 for a racially aggravated offence. 
On 28 July 2019, the defendant threatened the victim while making racist remarks. The defendant denied the offence but was convicted after a trial. The defendant was sentenced to six months imprisonment (uplifted from four months) suspended for two years with a requirement to complete 180 hours of unpaid work and to pay the victim £1000 in compensation.