Written question asked by Philip Davies (Conservative) on Tuesday, 10 June 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 12 June 2008. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Wednesday, 25 June 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Racially Aggravated Offences

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances a person may be charged with a racially aggravated offence against a person of the same ethnicity.

Answer: The Association of Chief Police Officers’ definition of hate crime is very broad and inclusive as follows:A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person.It is therefore possible that the ethnicity of the offender could be the same as the victim’s, for example, if a person in a mixed-race relationship was attacked by someone of the same ethnicity who disagreed with that type of relationship.

Secondary information