New centres will make reporting hate crime easier

People will be able to talk to trained members of staff at the Greenwood Centre in Ravensthorpe, Thornhill Lees Library and Information Centre and Dewsbury Library.

Dewsbury Area Committee agreed to pay for it, when it met in December.

More than £1,300 will also pay for hate awareness training at Dewsbury’s secondary schools. Training and workshops will be held for Year 9 pupils and teaching staff throughout 2014.

Coun Masood Ahmed, chairman of the area committee, said: “People often think nothing is done about this sort of crime, but this will make it easier for people to report their concerns.

“Hopefully this will increase understanding between communities and get people to work and live in a peaceful way.”

A hate incident is perceived by the victim to be motivated by the offender’s hatred of someone because of their race, sexual orientation, disability or religion.

A hate incident becomes a hate crime when there is a criminal offence attached to it –such as a physical attack, a threat of attack or verbal abuse and insults.

Home Office statistics for 2011/2012 show that across Kirklees 585 incidents and crimes were recorded.

Of those, 82 per cent related to race hate, six per cent were around sexual orientation, 12 per cent on disability and less than 0.5 per cent relating to transgender hate.