Top Scots prosecutor warns rise in hate crime will not be tolerated

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland's senior prosecutor has pledged that a rising tide of hate crime will not be tolerated. Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC pledged to protect the public from "hate-fuelled offences".

The latest Crown Office figures show that while racist offences, the largest category for hate crimes, decreased, offences involving discrimination due to religion, gender, sexuality and disability all rose.More charges than ever before were laid against suspects targeting disabled people because of their condition.The 3% increase in 2022/23 to 722 was the highest recorded since current discrimination laws were passed in 2010.Charges for offences aggravated by a victim’s sexual orientation also rose to 1,884, up 2% from the year before, and continuing its steady climb since 2014/15.Dorothy Bain KC, the Lord Advocate, said: “We will not tolerate crime which damages the fundamental right of an individual to be exactly the person they are.“As prosecutors, we take very seriously our responsibility to protect victims and members of the public from these hate-fuelled offences.”Overall, the number of charges reported containing at least one element of hate crime was 5,738 in 2022/23, which is 2% down on the year before.

While the majority of hate crime has an element of racism, the proportion of charges aggravated by race has been falling over the last decade from 74% in 2013/14 to 55% in 2022/23.

The 3,145 charges related to race reported in 2022/23 represented a fall of 2% on the year before.It is also 31% lower than the high in 2011/12 when there were 4,547 racist charges.