PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Harassment (14 October 2014)

The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) indicate the number of offences charged, in which a prosecution commenced at magistrates’ court under Section 32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (racially or religiously aggravated harassment), rather than identifying the number of defendants prosecuted. It is often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same victim.

The table below shows, in each of the last seven years, the number of offences, charged by way of Section 32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (racially or religiously aggravated harassment), and which reached a first hearing at magistrates’ courts, in England and Wales.

Data Source: CPS Management Information System

There is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation.

The last five years have seen a year on year reduction in the overall number of cases referred to the CPS from the police, however the CPS do not hold data related to the number of police referrals of cases in which charges of racially or religiously aggravated harassment would be appropriate.