Two Scots charged with sectarian crime each day

Chief Scottish Political Correspondent

Saturday 19 November 2011

ALMOST 700 people were charged with sectarian crimes in Scotland last year – equivalent to nearly two a day.

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ROBBIE DINWOODIE CHIEF SCOTTISH POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

The statistic was revealed in a Scottish Government report published yesterday as the SNP prepares to bring in a bill aimed at cracking down on the problem.

The report showed that the vast majority of offenders are young men from Glasgow, with the city accounting for more than half of all cases and having a prosecution rate more than 12 times that of Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Dundee.

The report also revealed that 24 youngsters under the age of 16 were charged with the offence in 2010. Overall, more than 60% of those involved were under the age of 30.Anti-sectarianism campaign group Nil By Mouth warned last night: “We cannot lose another generation to the battles of the past.”The Government said the proposed new laws could bring about “the beginning of the end”, but the Catholic Church said the figures were “an indicator of entrenched hostility on a worrying scale”.Only five of 32 local authorities reported no charges last year, suggesting that the problem is widespread across Scotland. Football was linked to one-third of prosecutions but fewer than 13% of cases were stadium-related – behind cases linked to public transport, police cars or police stations, or main streets. Marches and parades were also not high on the list of flashpoints, accounting for only 5% of cases.The biggest group of victims of sectarianism were the police themselves, at more than 40%.In more than half of cases – some 60% – alcohol had been consumed.More than half of episodes were anti-Catholic, at 57.5%, with Protestants targeted in 36.5% of cases.The numbers charged with religious aggravation of an offence has fluctuated between 600 and 700 in recent years, so the fact that the 2010-11 figure at 693 was almost 10% up on the previous year provided further ammunition for the Government.Community Safety Minister Roseanna Cunningham said: “These statistics show the shameful reality of religious hate crime in Scotland. This report supports the direction of travel we are taking. “We need to eradicate sectarianism once and for all by cracking down on all forms and expressions of sectarian hatred, through a combination of education and tough enforcement.“This bill will not be the conclusive answer or the only solution, but it is the beginning of the end.”Dave Scott of Nil By Mouth said that in particular the figures for those under the age of 30 highlighted the fear of “losing another generation”. He added: “With convictions secured in 27 out of 32 local authority areas it is clear we need a real nationwide debate on how we tackle sectarianism and its root causes.”The Catholic Church’s Bishop Philip Tartaglia complained that hundreds of Crown Office documents on sectarian crimes had been destroyed, preventing a fuller analysis of the issue. He added: “Since Catholics represent just 16% of Scotland’s population, the fact that they account for almost 60% of the victims of sectarian crime reflects poorly on modern Scotland and is an indicator of entrenched hostility on a worrying scale.”Labour’s justice spokesman James Kelly said: “The statistics show that there is no room for complacency. Scottish Labour is fully behind the authorities, as they bring to justice those who commit sectarian crime. “These statistics show that the law, as it stands, is working well, with an increasing number of convictions being secured for religious hate crimes.”For the Scottish Conservatives, David McLetchie said: “More action is needed, not least by changing attitudes in the small but odious sections of society which think that bigotry can go unchallenged. “The case for new laws remains unproven and the bill has been severely and rightly criticised from many quarters.”Rangers manager Ally McCoist said: “I think the figures are up because there has been a bigger clamp-down. “It goes without saying that there is absolutely no place for it in modern society.” Celtic stressed that although 47 incidents were attributed to Celtic Park, 33 related to visiting supporters and all 14 of their own fans involved in such episodes had now been banned from the ground. “Celtic will continue to work strenuously against all forms of bigotry and religious prejudice,” it said.

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Two Scots charged with sectarian crime each day

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