Yahoo News The Teesside area that's one of UK's hotspots for racially and religiously aggravated hate crime
Middlesbrough has one of the highest rates of racist and religiously motivated hate crimes, new data shows.
Last year there were 449 hate crimes committed in the Teesside town. Compared to the population size that equates to 302.8 crimes per 100,000 people. That is the fourth highest crime rate of more than 300 community safety partnership areas - which are broadly similar to council areas - in England and Wales.
Middlesbrough came behind Westminster’s 592 average, Manchester which had a 333 rate and Camden with 304. However, the data reveals that hate crime fell by 5% due to a total of 449 crimes in 2023 reduced from 473 in 2022.
Hate crime also fell in Redcar and Cleveland and Darlington. The figures show that hate crime fell by 16% with a total of 112 crimes reduced from 134 in 2022. The crimes per 100,000 population in the Teesside borough is 81.6 - the lowest area on Teesside.
The second area which saw hate crime reduce was Darlington with a 15% decrease.
In Stockton and Hartlepool hate crime increased, the data adds. Stockton saw the highest rise with 9% due to 255 hate crimes being recorded in 2023 up from 234 in 2022. Hartlepool's figure also saw a rise of 1%. There were 125 crimes recorded in 2023 and 124 in 2022. Hartlepool has an average of 133.2 crimes per 100k population.
'It will simply not be tolerated'
A Cleveland Police spokesperson, said: “It is of paramount importance for Cleveland Police to protect people and protect communities. We know that those victims who are targeted because of their race or religion suffer long lasting effects and Hate Crime of any kind will simply not be tolerated.
“Cleveland Police takes a problem-solving approach to tackle offenders’ behaviour, reduce the number of repeat victims, and identify any hot spot areas for proactive and preventative patrols. Anyone who is affected by Hate Crime or who sees it happening, is asked to contact Cleveland Police by dialling 101”.
Across the country, racist and religiously motivated hate crimes have increased in the last year - and a new map shows the areas with the highest rates.
It comes as several charities have warned about the recent rise in antisemitism and islamophobia in the wake of the Hamas terror attack on Israel last October and the subsequent bombing campaign by the Israeli government in Gaza. Last year police in England and Wales recorded just under 77,000 crimes that were racially or religiously aggravated.
These offences included assault, causing criminal damage, harassment, and causing public fear, alarm, or distress, motivated by hatred of the victim’s perceived race or religion. That was a slight increase on 2022, when there were just under 76,000 crimes of this nature.
But racially or religiously motivated hate crime has now remained at historically high levels for the past three years - which police believe is down to greater confidence in reporting. There were 67,000 racist and religious hate crimes in 2020, but that rocketed to 77,000 in 2021 and has remained stable ever since.
Now a new map has pinpointed the parts of the country with the worst issues with racially or religiously motivated hate crime.
Last year more of these crimes were committed in Birmingham than anywhere else, a total of 3,370 offences, an 11% rise since 2022. That included 213 racist or religiously motivated assaults that caused an injury to the victim.
Birmingham was followed by Manchester (1,896) and then Leeds (1,828). But when compared to the size of the population, people were more likely to fall victim to a racially or religiously aggravated hate crime in Westminster than anywhere else.
Last year there were 1,251 hate crimes committed in Westminster. Compared to the population size that equates to 592 crimes per 100,000 people. That was the highest crime rate of more than 300 community safety partnership areas - which are broadly similar to council areas - in England and Wales.
Manchester was next with a rate of 333 crimes per 100,000 population, and then Camden (304) and Middlesbrough (303).
You can see the number and rate of hate crime where you live using our interactive map.
