Progress at last on disability hate crime, but prosecution figures still fail to reflect daily experience of hostility

Police forces and prosecutors are both finally working to increase the number of disability hate crime prosecutions in England and Wales, as the number of court cases remains stubbornly low, despite a long-awaited rise.

Disability News Service (DNS) has been reporting for eight years on how levels of prosecutions of disability hate crime have plummeted from their peak a decade ago, and how police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have done little if anything to address the trend.

But new figures from the Home Office and CPS have finally shown slight signs of improvement, although prosecutions are still less than a third of their level in 2016-17.

Both the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and CPS told DNS this week that they had been working over the last year to reverse the decline in prosecutions and convictions for disability hate crime.

The latest figures show the number of disability hate crime offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales fell slightly to 10,140 in 2025-26, compared with 10,649 in 2024-25*, a fall of five per cent.

Despite that fall, the number of cases passed to CPS by police for possible prosecution rose slightly, from 328 in 2024-25 to 349 in 2025-26.

CPS completed 288 prosecutions** in 2025-26 (there were 1,009 in 2016-17), and secured 235 convictions for disability hate crime offences, compared with 279 prosecutions and 214 convictions in 2024-25.

This means that the number of prosecutions as a proportion of offences recorded by police rose slightly, from 2.6 per cent in 2024-25 to 2.8 per cent in 2025-26.

Louise Holden, senior policy officer for disabled people and crime for Inclusion London, said: “The figures do not reflect the daily experience of many disabled people.

“Being harassed, abused and targeted needs to be met with justice and these low numbers show how much work still needs to happen to get that justice.”

They added: “For many years now, disabled victims and survivors who are brave enough to report to the police feel let down, because many cases are not prosecuted.

“The cases don’t get to the CPS and it is unclear why.

“With confidence in the police so low in our community, we need to see more cases getting to court and victims getting justice.

“We need to be involved in the Met’s work on hate crime against disabled people so they understand our community and how to support us better.

“Every case that gets dropped means there’s someone suffering alone and without support and that is unacceptable.”

Earlier this year, DNS reported that NPCC had finally agreed to keep a promise they made five years ago to investigate why police forces were passing on so few disability hate crime cases to prosecutors.

This week, NPCC confirmed that that work had now begun.

Commander Claire Smart, NPCC’s hate crime lead, said: “Disability hate crime remains significantly under-reported and we recognise there is concern about the relatively small proportion of recorded offences that result in referrals to the CPS.

“The reasons are often complex. However, we are clear that we need a better understanding of the specific factors affecting disability hate crime investigations.

“Importantly, disability hate crime can take forms that differ from other hate crime strands.

“We know disabled people can be targeted through exploitation, coercive control, financial abuse, mate crime, cuckooing and abuse within trusted relationships, which can present particular investigative and safeguarding challenges.

“Victims may also face barriers to reporting or may not immediately recognise that they have been targeted because of their disability.

“The thematic review of disability hate crime is being taken forward with support from policing, independent advisers, disability advocacy organisations and academic experts.

“The work aims to identify opportunities to improve investigations, strengthen outcomes and increase confidence among disabled people.

“We expect its findings and recommendations to be available next year.

“I would continue to encourage anyone who experiences disability hate crime to report it so that action can be taken and victims can access support.”

CPS said that, in the last year, it had discussed disability hate crime on public transport with outside experts, while some of its hate crime prosecutor coordinators had met a leading academic to broaden its understanding, while it continued to engage with the Football Policing Unit and the disabled-led charity Level Playing Field.

It has also sampled disability hate crime cases to consider the facts and the language used, and has highlighted its guidance and best practice guide on prosecuting disability hate crime to its prosecutors.

A CPS spokesperson said: “Disability hate crime (DHC) is a deeply harmful offence. We consistently charge over 80 per cent of cases referred to us by the police.

“Over the last year, we have engaged with leading academics on DHC and undertaken case sampling work to better understand how these offences occur.

“We have also been expanding our work on key thematic areas including DHC in football and on the transport network, by collaborating with partners to understand the lived experiences of victims and improve our collective response to these abhorrent crimes.”

*This was reported last year as 10,224 because issues with historic data meant Metropolitan police figures were not included

**See table 9.1