Racially motivated hate crimes made up 70 per cent of all reported offences in Suffolk last year, as the county saw a drop in crimes committed. 

The latest data from the Home Office shows that hate crimes committed in the county dropped by a tenth in the past year. 

Altogether, 988 hate crimes were recorded by Suffolk Police between March 2022 and March this year.  

A hate crime is defined as a criminal offence against a victim prompted by hostility or prejudice. 

Of these 988 incidents, 694 were racially motivated. 115 were motivated by sexual orientation; 102 by disability; 39 by transphobia; and 32 by religion. 

Overall, this is a drop of ten per cent from last year, when Statista reported that 1,076 hate crimes were committed in Suffolk.

However, it was also reported by the House of Commons Library in November last year that Suffolk Police had the lowest conviction rate for all hate crimes at 76.7 per cent. The force with the highest conviction rate was Durham with 93.1 per cent. 

This decrease is in line with the rest of the country. Some 145,214 offences were recorded in England and Wales for the 12 months ending in March, a drop of five per cent from the 153,536 in the previous 12 months.  

East Anglian Daily Times: A graph showing the number of hate crimes motivated by race and sexual orientation recorded in England and Wales. Image: PAA graph showing the number of hate crimes motivated by race and sexual orientation recorded in England and Wales. Image: PA (Image: PA)East Anglian Daily Times: A graph showing the number of hate crimes motivated by religion, disability and transphobia recorded in England and Wales. Image: PAA graph showing the number of hate crimes motivated by religion, disability and transphobia recorded in England and Wales. Image: PA (Image: PA)

This is the first year-on-year drop since comparable figures began. 

However, the number of transgender identity hate crimes recorded nationally in 2022/23 has increased by 11 per cent to 4,732, the highest figure since data began in 2012/13. 

A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman said: “We monitor reporting of hate crime closely, as we fully understand how such a crime can seriously undermine the confidence and quality of life for people and wider communities. 

“We reach out to Black, Asian and minority ethnic and disability groups, community groups on a regular basis in order to build trust and increase reporting. Securing sufficient evidence to bring a charge can be challenging but if the evidence is there, we will present it to the CPS in an effort to secure a charge. 

“Our well-established hate crime scrutiny panels ensure we continually review investigations and raise awareness amongst staff and the community to encourage reporting of hate crime and provide the appropriate support to people affected by this. 

“Norfolk and Suffolk Victim Care provides a free and confidential support service to help victims and witnesses of all types of crime, including hate crime. Support can be provided even if the incident has not been reported to the police.”