The Scoop

Racist and Homophobic crime on the rise in London

Adam Bienkov | Thursday 3 February, 2011 08:55

There has been a worrying increase in racist and homophobic hate crimes in London over the past four years, new figures reveal.

The number of racist incidents has risen by 7% since 2006/7 and homophobic incidents have risen by 28 per cent, according to figures released to the London Assembly

Last year 10,268 racist and 1545 homophobic incidents were reported to police across the capital.

Studies estimate that three out of four hate crimes are not even reported by victims.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Dee Doocey said today:

“These figures are not some temporary snapshot of certain crimes that can be casually dismissed but instead powerful evidence of a very serious rise in hate crime across the capital. The rise in race and especially homophobic incidents is deeply disturbing.”

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