Police forces “must take action” over a dramatic fall in prosecutions for disability hate crimes at the same time as reports of them have mushroomed.
Clare Hughes, criminal justice manager at charity the National Autistic Society (NAS), made the comment after the release of new figures for hate crime prosecutions.
NAS criminal justice manager Clare Hughes says the police must act over disability hate crime
Hate crime prosecutions have dropped from 1,009 in 2016-17 to just 345 a year, according to the Disability News Service (DNS).
‘The police must take action’
In a statement, Hughes said: “No autistic person should face hate crime of any kind and the police must take action when these crimes are reported.”
She said the NAS is “campaigning for better autism understanding across society, including within the criminal justice system”.
Figures show police forces are passing on far fewer cases to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The CPS assesses cases and decides whether prosecutions should go ahead.
Cases fall from 924 to just 243
In 2014/15, police forces passed 924 cases on to the CPS. But by 2018/19, this had fallen by more than half to 367 cases. Last year, the figure stood at just 243 cases.
It’s unclear how many of these alleged offences saw autistic people targeted.
But while courts are convicting fewer people, the number of offences that the public report to the police is rising.
Disability hate crime allegations passed to the police have risen by more than 40 per cent to over 14,000, according to the DNS.
Only 1 per cent of crimes referred to CPS or result in charges
Reports suggest that just 1 per cent of disability hate crimes reported to police were referred to the CPS or resulted in charges.
Mark Hamilton is the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) hate crime lead. He told the DNS that forces had concentrated on race and religious hate crimes after Brexit “to the detriment” of disability hate crimes.
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Published: 20 November 2022
