18 charged with hate crimes

London - British police yesterday said yesterday they had charged 18 people, including an 11-year-old, with hate crimes following…

London - British police yesterday said yesterday they had charged 18 people, including an 11-year-old, with hate crimes following a crackdown in which 100 people were arrested in the capital.

"Eighteen people have now been charged with racist crime offences after Wednesday's raid," a Scotland Yard spokesman said. The charges ranged from racially aggravated assault to criminal damage and robbery.

Arrests spanned Hounslow, a west London neighbourhood with a large Asian population, to Greenwich, a mainly white suburb south-east of the capital.