Hate crime rise in Norfolk blamed on Brexit

Hate crimes in Norfolk are on the rise, the latest set of figures have shown with the Brexit referendum blamed for those motivated by racism.

There was also a steep climb in disabled people who fell victim to hate crime and incidents where transgender people suffered.

In the 2016-17 financial year, 517 of race hate incidents were recorded by Norfolk Police, where someone was abused or attacked due to their race. The referendum was in June 2016.

That is a 24 per cent increase on the previous year, when 417 cases were recorded.

A Home Office report said that, while the police have improved their recording methods, “part of the increase is due to a genuine increase in hate crime, particularly around the time of the EU Referendum”.

Rose Simkins, chief executive of Stop Hate UK, said it was “now an indisputable fact” that racist incidents have risen since the Brexit vote.

She claimed: “Our own figures, from the period 2016-17, also support this trend where, after several years of disability being the biggest motivating factor, there was a clear shift towards race being the biggest factor.

“Also, after the referendum, many more people reported suffering hate for the first time, as deep-rooted prejudices surfaced and manifested themselves as abuse and threats to innocent members of the public.”

The figures also show a rise in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic hate crime, where religion was a motivating factor.

Norfolk Police recorded 47 cases in 2016-17, 20 more than the previous year.

The total number of hate crime cases in Norfolk increased by 451 in 2016-17, with racist offences making up the majority of those.

Incidents where disability is the motivating factor have also risen, from 86 in 2015-16 to 349 in the latest figures.

Phil Talbot, from disability charity Scope, said: “It’s alarming that thousands of disabled people are being targeted in this way because of their impairment or condition.

“We encourage everyone to report these despicable crimes to the authorities, so those responsible can be caught and prosecuted.”

Police are also dealing with more incidents of hate crime against transgender people, with a charity warning this is “just the tip of the iceberg”.

The latest Home Office figures show 24 incidents were recorded in Norfolk during the 2016-17 financial year, up from 15 in 2015-16.

Five years earlier, when this data was first published, four incidents were reported. Over the same period 135 people reported homophobic hate crime, up 35 per cent on the year previously.

The data comes as members of the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Pride group prepare to host their inaugural parade in the town on August 18.

Rachel Lawson, from the group, said that, while she had not experienced problems locally, others may not have been as fortunate.

She said: “We’re here to make sure the people of King’s Lynn can turn terms into people.”

However the charity Stonewall said: “While some people may suggest this spike is due to increased confidence in reporting, we fear these figures represent just the tip of the iceberg of a rise in hate crimes against LGBT people”.

Overall police recorded hate crime increased by 66 per cent in 2016-17, of which the vast majority was classified as due to race.