Photo: Anadolu Agency
Hamed Chapman
Muslims remained by far the most targeted religious group of hate crimes in England and Wales last year, according to the latest official government figures.
The number of Islamophobic hate crimes recorded by police soared by 42 per cent in the year ending March 2022 to a new high of 3,459, the latest annual Home Office publication of hate crimes shows. The recorded number of hate crimes rose to 155,841, the biggest increase since 2016/17.
The vast majority, 70 percent, were racially motivated.
The second highest religious group targeted after Muslims were Jewish people, numbering 1,919 offences in England and Wales, up from 23 per cent in the previous year.
Hate crimes classified as religiously motivated increased by 37 per cent between the year ending March 2021 and the year ending to 8,730 offences, the highest ever recorded number since the time series began back in 2012.
In the UK, hate crimes are defined as ‘any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personal characteristic.’
This definition was agreed upon in 2007 by the police, Crown Prosecution Service, Prison Service (now the National Offender Management Service) and other agencies and includes the offences categorised as race or ethnicity, religion or beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity.
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