Prosecutions of disability hate crime have plunged by half in just two years, at the same time as offences recorded by police forces are rising sharply, according to “incredibly worrying” new figures.
The key explanation for the fall appears to be a dramatic fall in the number of cases passed by police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), while the number of disability hate crimes recorded by police is continuing to rise every year.
In the last two years, the number of disability hate crimes recorded by police forces in England and Wales has risen from 8,250 to 9,943, an increase of more than 20 per cent.
But in the same two years, CPS figures show that the number of disability hate crime cases prosecuted in court has nearly halved, from 579 in 2018-19 to just 292 in 2020-21.
Last year, it fell from 360 to 292, a decrease of 19 per cent in just one year.
The number of prosecutions as a proportion of recorded disability hate crime offences is now less than three per cent (2.9 per cent).
Disability hate crime prosecutions are less than a third of the level they were in 2016-17, when there were 1,009, while police recorded offences have risen from 5,254 to 9,943, an increase of 90 per cent.
The CPS declined to offer any explanation for the dramatic fall in prosecutions, but it did provide figures to Disability News Service (DNS) which showed how the number of disability hate crime suspects referred to prosecutors by the police for a charging decision dropped to just 298 in 2020-21 across the whole of England and Wales.
This is a fall from 320 in 2019-20, 367 in 2018-19, and 924 in 2014-15.
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) had failed by noon today (Thursday) to say why the number of referrals had fallen so sharply, and what steps police forces were taking to correct this.
It is the third year in succession that NPCC has failed to provide an explanation for why the figures are falling so sharply and what action it is taking – if any – to stem the decline.
But Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, said: “These findings are incredibly worrying, they need to be urgently investigated.
“Sadly, we know far too often victims of disability hate crime do not get the justice they deserve, and these findings will only lead people to question whether they can trust the system.
“Frustratingly, the government’s strategy for disabled people does little to tackle this, promising a new hate crime strategy, but no actual details.
“More must be done to ensure disabled people are supported in reporting this hate crime and convictions are sought.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “All forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable.
“We expect the police to take these crimes extremely seriously and work with the CPS to ensure perpetrators are prosecuted and victims receive justice.”
The government will publish its new hate crime strategy – which will include its plans for tackling disability hate crime – this autumn.
But the Home Office declined to say if the strategy would address the issue of falling disability hate crime prosecutions.
Last year, CPS said it was continuing to offer “support” to NPCC in its efforts to “understand” the fall.
But this year, CPS offered no comment on the continued fall in referrals or why that “support” appeared to have had no impact on the number of prosecutions.
Instead, Lionel Idan, chief crown prosecutor for London south and CPS hate crime lead, said: “Hate crime against disabled people is truly abhorrent and has a significant detrimental impact on victims and the wider community.
“The CPS has an enormous amount of sympathy and concern for all victims of disability hate crime, and always takes such offending very seriously.
“We continue to work closely with the police to improve outcomes for victims and to engage with our communities to build greater confidence and reassurance.
“When cases pass our legal tests, we will not hesitate to prosecute perpetrators of all hate crimes.”
A note from the editor:
Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.
Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.
Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…