PSNI reports 14% rise in homophobic crimes

The number of homphobic motivated incidents and crimes reported to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has risen by 14 per cent year on year.

Figures show that 280 such incidents were recorded by the force in 2013/14, up from 245 in the 2012/13 period and 200 a year earlier.

The reports included 133 violent homophobic crimes in 2013/14, 103 in 2012/13 and 79 in 2011/12, PSNI said.

A number of the UK’s biggest police forces recorded a rise in the number of violent homophobic crimes this year.

More than 300 assaults on gay and lesbian people have been reported to police so far this year in London.

Gay rights charities said that while it was “encouraging” that more people were reporting hate crime, many victims felt “silenced” by abuse on the street.

Figures released to the Press Association under the Freedom of Information Act show that 17 UK police forces recorded more violence against the person offences which were classed as homophobic or motivated by a person’s sexuality between January and October than the whole of last year.

Scotland Yard recorded 1,073 violent homophobic offences between January and October, up from 1,007 last year and 1,002 in 2012.

They included 315 assaults so far this year and a sharp rise in harassment offences from 693 last year to 747 in 2014.

Greater Manchester Police recorded 278 violent crimes motivated by a person’s sexual orientation between January and October, up from 231 last year and 259 in 2012.

South Wales Police recorded 162 violent crimes motivated by a person's sexual orientation between January and October, up from 132 last year and 89 in 2012.

Merseyside, Suffolk, South Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, North Wales, Kent, Bedfordshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Durham, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Cambridgeshire police forces also reported a rise in violent crimes which were homophobic or motivated by a person's sexual orientation.

Gay rights charity Stonewall warned that homophobic hate crime was “a real issue in the UK” and authorities must “continue to take this type of vile abuse seriously”.

The charity's spokesman Richard Lane said: "We believe that more and more victims and witnesses of homophobic attacks are building up the courage to speak to others and report these instances to the police.

“Hate crime is a key area of our work at Stonewall and our campaigns aim to not just encourage individuals to report attacks, but also for the police to try and make people feel more at ease with approaching them.

“We know, in the past, many have been hesitant to report crimes to the police for fear of the consequences.”

Chief Constable Jane Sawyers, national policing lead for LGBT issues, said: "Targeting someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is totally unacceptable.

“This abuse affects people’s right to feel safe, secure and confident about themselves. Police forces across the UK are committed to reducing hate crime and improving services to victims.”

PA