Hate crimes soar but prosecutions fall across England and Wales
Joe Giddens
Hate crimes in England and Wales have increased by 26 per cent in the last year but police are prosecuting a tiny proportion of those offences.
Figures issued by the Home Office say there were over 155,000 hate crimes recorded by forces up to March this year.
It's the biggest percentage increase in hate crimes in 5 years.
But the number of offences resulting in a police charge have dropped to 8 per cent of the total.
70 per cent of the crimes were racially motivated, a 22 per cent increase on the previous year.
Religious hate crimes increased by 37 per cent with Muslims the most targeted group followed by Jewish people.
Sexual orientation hate crimes rose by 41 per cent, the largest percentage annual increase since records began.
Transgender identity hate crimes rose by 56 per cent, the largest ever percentage annual increase.
And disability hate crimes increased by 43 per cent.
The figures show that over half of the hate crimes recorded by the police were for public order offences and over 40 per cent were for violence against the person.