The Lifecycle of a Hate Crime research findings suggest that the current law needs to be amended to make sure victims of hate crime of all characteristics – racial, religious, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity - are protected equally under the legislation.

Ideally, however, a new Hate Crime Act should be introduced that would aggravate any criminal offence that demonstrates hostility towards, or is committed by reason of, the victim’s (presumed) race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity. As such the key recommendation of the report is that a new Hate Crime Act is enacted. Failing the enactment of a new Hate Crime Act, three other recommendations are put forward:

1. That, as a minimum, Parliament amend s. 28 of the Crime and Disorder Act to include sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity;
2. That the offences of affray, violent disorder, theft and handling stolen goods, robbery, burglary, fraud and forgery, s. 18 grievous bodily harm, homicide offences and all sexual offences are added to the Crime and Disorder Act;
3. That s. 28 of the Crime and Disorder Act is amended to remove the word “motivation” and to replace this with a new “by reason” test;

The study also makes recommendations for the police, prosecutors and the judiciary for improving their practice. The study found particular problems in relation to:

• the consistent application of sentencing provisions under ss. 145 & 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003;
• a reluctance in parts of the judiciary to accept “demonstrations of hostility” committed in the “heat of the moment” as falling within the scope of the legislation;
• the potential for “double convictions” in the Magistrates’ Courts;
• diverging approaches to calculating “uplifts” for enhanced sentencing;
• the potential for “double counting” of hostility at sentencing, due to the fragmented nature of the legislation;
• and a systemic failure to identity and “flag” disability hate crimes, as well as a reluctance amongst many judges and legal practitioners to accept evidence of targeted violence against disabled people as proof of “disability hostility”.  

The authors therefore recommend that:

• the Government legislates to create a new Hate Crime Act that consolidates the existing fragmented framework which would prescribe any offence as “aggravated” in law where there is evidence of racial, religious, sexual orientation, disability and/or transgender identity hostility;
• the judiciary makes greater use of community and rehabilitation programmes that are designed to tackle the root causes of prejudice and hate as part of offenders’ “uplift”;
• and for the many thousands of cases that never reach court, that the police and CPS should make greater efforts to offer restorative solutions to ensure that more is being done to address the individual, community and societal harms that are caused by hate crime.