RACIALLY and religiously aggravated offences rose in regions across Wales and England during lockdown periods last year.

The PA news agency approached a number of police forces and organisations for responses to its analysis of racially and religiously aggravated offences from 2019 to 2020.

The Metropolitan Police recorded the highest number of racially and religiously aggravated offences of any police force in Wales and England in 2020, at 15,101 incidents, up 7 per cent from 14,051 in 2019. A total of 31 per cent of these offences were assigned the outcome “investigation complete – no suspect identified”.

“The outbreak of Covid-19 had a direct impact on hate crime in our communities. In London, there was a rise in reports of racially aggravated hate crime incidents, both on and offline, where certain communities were targeted due to the pandemic.

“Where any allegation of hate crime is made to the police, we will launch a proportionate investigation. In some cases there may be a lack of evidence to support a prosecution and a case will be closed when all investigative opportunities have been exhausted.”

Dyfed-Powys Police saw the second biggest percentage year-on-year rise in these offences, up from 239 in 2019 to 355 in 2020 (a rise of 49 per cent).

A spokesperson said: “Dyfed-Powys Police takes hate crime extremely seriously. Much work has been undertaken in force to increase confidence and trust in reporting hate crime and so we anticipated an increase in reporting.

“A 100 per cent audit of hate crimes resumed in 2020 and this captured any further crimes that needed to be recorded, in line with the force’s drive to improve crime data integrity.

“We’ve rolled out a new hate crime risk assessment tool, which enables us to better understand the issues; feedback from victims has been very positive and so may contribute to increased trust in reporting.

“On top of this, last year saw a number of significant events, which had an impact on the number of hate crimes reported.

“During the pandemic and the associated lockdowns, we saw an increase in such crimes due to community tensions around English on Welsh and Welsh on English crimes. These related to the issues of second homes, people travelling over the border to do their shopping, people travelling in breach of restrictions, etc.

“Last year also saw a number of protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which led to an increase in reporting of the crimes in question.

“The force also experienced significant increases in reporting levels for these crimes in autumn 2020 following the establishment of the Penally Asylum Accommodation Centre in Pembrokeshire, which attracted a lot of protests and counter-protests over a number of weeks.”

British Transport Police recorded 1,732 racially and religiously aggravated offences in 2020, of which 721 or 42 per cent were assigned the outcome “investigation complete – no suspect identified” – the highest proportion of any force.

A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “Preventing and tackling hate crime is a BTP priority. We have highly visible patrols and dedicated operations across the railway to ensure the safety and security of passengers and staff. In the rare instances where incidents do happen, we’re ready to respond and have access to CCTV across the network, which often gives us vital evidence to identify suspects and make arrests.

“We’re proud that our officers and staff come from all walks of life and we believe everyone has the right to travel safely. We won’t tolerate behaviour where someone is targeted because of who they are or made to feel uncomfortable on their journey.

“The majority of people using and working across the network will be safe and secure, however we strongly encourage anyone that is a victim of, or witness to, a hate crime to report it to us by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40. We take these incidents extremely seriously.”

Elsewhere in England:

  • West Midlands Police recorded the second highest number of racially and religiously aggravated offences in 2020 (5,115, up 23 per cent from 4,145 in 2019); 40 per cent of these offences were assigned the outcome “investigation complete – no suspect identified”.
  • West Yorkshire Police recorded the third highest number of racially and religiously aggravated offences in 2020 (4,627; down 1 per cent from 4,681 in 2019); 29 per cent of these offences were assigned the outcome “investigation complete – no suspect identified”.
  • Leicestershire Police saw the biggest percentage year-on-year rise in disability hate crimes, up from 714 in 2019 to 1,297 in 2020 (a rise of 82 per cent).

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for hate crime, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, said: “Over recent years police have worked hard to improve our response to hate crime, including better recording of offences and more training for officers.

“We are working with forces to help them understand and improve the service they provide to victims.

“Targeting someone because of their race or other characteristic is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated. Everyone has the right to live their lives without fear of being attacked, either physically, verbally or online.

“Police take all reports of threats and abuse seriously and we will work to bring perpetrators to justice. I encourage all victims to report to the police by calling 101 or online at True Vision: www.report-it.org.uk.”

Diana Fawcett, chief executive at independent charity Victim Support, said: “It is shocking that there has been a significant rise in racially and religiously aggravated crime, and a huge cause for concern that so many cases are left unsolved. In order to encourage more victims to come forward and report crimes, we must ensure that they have the confidence they will get justice from these incidences.

“Hate crime is a serious offence and throughout the pandemic we have been seeing high numbers of victims seeking support, particularly following the easing of lockdowns.

“We have seen victims who not only live with pain and suffering after facing horrendous abuse, but who also have had their sense of safety, wellbeing and self-worth damaged.

“No-one should ever fear being abused or discriminated against simply because of the way that they look or colour of their skin, and we all need to do more to create communities that are inclusive and safe for all.”

A spokesperson from the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: “No-one should ever be harassed, attacked or abused because of their race or other aspects of their identity. Such acts are utterly reprehensible and unacceptable.

“Positive steps have been taken by the police to improve recording practices, but we know that victims of hate crime may not report incidents if, for example, they have low trust in police and criminal justice agencies.

“It is essential that hate crimes or incidents are reported to the police to help ensure they are properly investigated and prosecuted.

“An increase in the number of police recorded cases could be owing to a number of reasons, and could be a sign of improvements in recording practices, but more still needs to be done to improve the process and the quality of support for victims.

“This includes effective hate crime training for police forces and work to ensure our hate crime laws are clear and easy to understand.”