Glasgow responsible for one third of Scotland's religious hate crimes...

[ian1964 10,415]

... despite falling figures.

 

MORE than one third of all religious hate crimes in Scotland have happened in Glasgow, new figures reveal.

 

 

 

The latest data released by the Scottish Government shows 197 charges were made in 2014/15 relating to religious hate crimes in Glasgow, 35% of the nationwide total.

 

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland said despite the falling figures, there was "no place in modern Scotland" for any type of hate crime but welcomed the falling figures.

 

He also condemned the nationwide rise in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic crimes, which have risen by 23% and 16% respectively.

 

Mr Mulholland said: "I want to reassure these communities that the full force of the law will be brought to bear on anyone engaging in this hateful and divisive conduct and would urge victims of all forms of hate crime to come forward and not suffer in silence.

 

"I am particularly pleased to see racial and religiously aggravated offending at their lowest levels for a decade and football related hate crimes also reducing.

 

"There is absolutely no place in modern Scotland for individuals who commit crimes motivated by prejudice towards a person's race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity.

 

Campaigners have welcomed the figures but admit there is still a way to go to eradicate religious hate crime in Glasgow.

 

Dave Scott, campaign director for anti-sectarian charity Nil by Mouth said the figures show Glasgow still has a problem with religious hate crime, but added: "We need to remember that it's a battle we are winning.

 

"We've seen huge progress in the city over the past 15 years with anti-sectarian work taking place across the vast majority of the city's schools through Sense over Sectarianism and Nil by Mouth.

 

"The Evening Times has also recognised these efforts and we now see many positive stories about efforts to bring people together."

 

"We still need laws to ensure those who refuse to change are held accountable for their actions and people are free to go about their business without victimisation.

 

"However, this problem was never going to be solved overnight and through education we are building solid foundations for a Scotland free of bigotry and a generation free from the burdens of the past. "

 

Charges under the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act have also fallen in the last year, with 46 people being charged in Glasgow in 2014/15 compared to 72 in 2013/14.

 

The total charges in Glasgow make up 24%of the national total.

 

Celtic Park and Ibrox are no longer the grounds with the highest number of charges associated to them, with Celtic Park's figures dropping since last year.

 

In 2013/14, 21% of the charges for the whole of Scotland occurred at Celtic Park, whereas this year the number of incidents equals less than 5%.

 

Less than five people were charged in connection to incidents at Parkhead last year.

 

Last year incidents at Ibrox related to 16% of the total charges, but this year the figure has fallen to 9%, with 8 people being charged for incidents at Rangers' home ground.

 

Nationally, figures have revealed all types of hate crime are falling except those relating to sexual orientation and disability.

 

Transgender-related crimes have also risen in the past four years.

 

Disability charity Enable Scotland said the figures are "just the tip of the iceberg"

 

Jan Savage, assistant director of campaigns at the ENABLE said: "Although we have seen yet another year on year rise in reported disability hate crime, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

"We would agree with The Lord Advocate that disability-related crimes are still being under-reported and welcome further work to change this."

 

"It is heartening to see police and prosecutors dealing with the problem robustly, but disabled people need to have more confidence in the reporting system.

 

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/glasgow-responsible-for-one-third-of-scotlands-religious-hate-crimes-210189n.128839630

[pmu 0]

With majority of cases not at the footy it's time that Wee Nippy and her henchman created some new " offensive behaviour @ acts". what about " on the buses" or "in the clubs" "ootside the schools" or "in the newsroom at bbc" ????? It must be happening somewhere if not at the footy.....

[ian1964 10,415]

SNP softens stance on football sectarian laws amid fears young men unnecessarily criminalised

 

David Leask and Martin Williams

Saturday 13 June 2015

 

FANS who sing offensive songs will face banning orders rather than prosecution after the SNP moved to soften its flagship sectarian football law.

 

Scottish Government, courts and prosecution officials have all signalled they want to make more use of civil bans rather than criminal punishments for those who flaunt the controversial Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.

 

The lighter-touch approach was announced after an independent report warned that the law, introduced at the end of the 2011-12 season, had put new strains on relations between police and supporters.

 

Researchers from the University of Stirling and ScotCen Research also found that some police officers felt the act's emphasis on singing or offensive displays distracted them from monitoring more violent risk groups.

 

The researchers called for a "more nuanced set of responses" to offensive behaviour, including sanctions imposed by clubs, diversionary measures that avoid criminal disposals and short-term football banning orders.

 

The latter measure, they suggested, should be "ideally combined with match period sign-on conditions to maximise effectiveness".

 

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland and Community Safety Minister Paul Wheelhouse backed the research during a visit to Sacro, a charity that leads on diversionary tactics. Mr Wheelhouse announced new funding to expand Sacro's work.

 

Mr Mulholland stressed his prosecutors would still seek criminal sanctions against fans where they thought this was merited. But he welcomed alternatives.

 

He said: "It is important that all actions taken to tackle offending linked to sectarianism at football matches and elsewhere in our communities are proportionate and effective."

 

Justice insiders underline Mr Mulholland's use of the word "proportionate".

 

Much of the criticism of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act has been that prosecutions were deemed to be disproportionate.

 

Research found this was a widely held view among supporters.

 

The academics concluded: "Tensions around the introduction of the act however - and in particular the extent to which certain sections of fans felt over-policed, and subject to disproportionate levels of surveillance, searches and public-order style policing - was considered to have placed a strain on police, club and fan relationships at certain clubs."

 

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said the existing legislation for football banning orders was under review.

 

Currently only the police can ask the courts to ban a fan from football. However, there are those who wish to give clubs the power to apply for such bans, civil orders, which, if breached, incur criminal penalties.

 

The spokesman added: "With officials at the Scottish Court Service and the Crown Office we are considering whether improvements to procedures could encourage greater use of Football Banning Orders under existing legislation."

 

The research, meanwhile, revealed that the number of crimes recorded under the act had dropped by 24 per cent between 2012/13 and 2013/14.

 

Researchers said it was "impossible to determine" whether some, or any of these reductions are attributable directly to the act.

 

The period of the act coincides with relegation of Rangers to the lower leagues - and end to Old Firm fixtures, one of which had inspired the legislation in the first place.

 

Almost half of all people taken to court last year under the laws designed to stamp out sectarian abuse at football matches were acquitted, figures show.

 

There was action taken against 161 people in 2013/14 with not guilty outcomes in 74 cases.

 

The study aimed to find ways to make the law work - not judge whether it should continue.

 

Online campaign Fans Against Criminalisation said it was "premature" to say if the act would survive. Celtic have called for parts of it to be repealed.

 

Historian Sir Tom Devine welcomed moves to soften its implementation but said he still feared young men were being criminalised - and their careers ruined - because they became involved in what they say as historic or traditional chants that were not explicitly sectarian.

 

He said: "I don't know of any country where songs to do with religion or history are criminalised."

 

The new research said that 85 per cent of fans said it is offensive to sing, chant or shout things about people's religious background or beliefs at football matches. That figure fell to 82 per cent for supporters of Celtic and just 60 per cent for Rangers.

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/snp-softens-stance-on-football-sectarian-laws-amid-fears-young-men-unnecessarily-crim.128844340

[RANGERRAB 3,258]

LOL. The only reason they're reviewing this legislation is that it is proving that the yahoos are the worst offenders & are the ones getting caught by it.

Had it been us nothing would be getting done. Scotland 2015.

Edited June 13, 2015 by RANGERRAB

[limeburner 0]

Big frankie mullholland has got everthing under control.

Thanks big yin,where wid Scoatlan be without ye!!

In reality,why dont you piss of and give us peace to live our lives?

[der Berliner 3,246]

Fall in Scottish football hate crime charges

 

The number of people charged under the controversial football hate crime legislation has fallen slightly, according to Crown Office figures.

 

They showed 193 people - all but four of them men - were charged in the year to the end of March.

 

That number was down from 206 in 2013/14 and 267 the previous year.

 

The figures showed that the accused had an affiliation with Rangers in 30% of the charges, Aberdeen in 16%, Celtic in 10% and Hibernian in 8%.

 

Some 16% of all charges were connected to the Dundee United versus Aberdeen match in December last year.

 

A further 7% were connected to Hamilton v Motherwell in September and 7% to the Scotland v England match in November.

 

Court proceedings have begun in relation to 168 of the 193 charges.

 

'Hateful behaviour'

 

The report on the figures said the average age of the accused had risen from 23 to 27.

 

Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 criminalises hateful, threatening and otherwise offensive behaviour that is likely to incite public disorder in relation to football.

 

Last year people were accused of offences that were "threatening" in 61% of the charges and "hateful" in 30% of charges.

 

Behaviour was described as "otherwise offensive" - for example including a reference to celebration of loss of life or support of terrorist organisations - in 13% of charges.

 

Of the 58 charges relating to "hateful" behaviour, 50 charges involved incidents of religious hatred, down on previous years, while 4% involved racial hatred, and no charges involved sexual orientation.

 

As in the previous two years, derogatory behaviour towards Roman Catholicism (84%) accounted for the largest proportion of religious abuse.

 

Academic evaluation

 

Six charges (12%) included behaviour that was derogatory towards Protestantism.

 

One charge included derogatory behaviour towards Judaism, and one charge included derogatory behaviour towards Islam.

 

Fewer charges occurred in football stadiums than in previous years, with the majority relating to incidents outside grounds or in town or city centres on match days.

 

An academic evaluation of the act, published by the Scottish government, said football fans said they had not noticed any significant decrease in the amount of problematic behaviour since the new laws had come into force.

 

The report also said police and stewards in football grounds appeared to be concentrating on groups of young fans - terming them risk groups - and losing focus on more serious offenders, perhaps away from stadiums.

 

There has also been some criticism of the act from within the legal profession, with some sheriffs "emphatically critical" of it. Successful prosecutions have fallen from 73% to 52%.

 

http://m.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-33106460

 

In various ways a point-of-view thing. If you call someone a "fen*an ba**ard", a judge/lawyer/sheriff may view that as sectarian, another one as anti-Catholic, and a third one as both. One may sure declare it as a "hate" crime, if you term terrorists or terrorist-minded/supporters like that, for what else could you hurl at those butchers and their fellowship. It still beggars belief though. Do we sentence people openly hurling similar abuse at ISIS killers and their fellowship?

 

Likewise, it is rather strange that judges and sheriffs decide essentially on "their own" what is law in this case.

Edited June 13, 2015 by der Berliner

[RANGERRAB 3,258]

What is hilarious about this football hate crime legislation is that it was brought in to protect the very people who are now being shown to be the worst offenders.

Edited June 13, 2015 by RANGERRAB

[gisabeer 409]

Its official. Septic are the most bigoted clyb in scotland.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

We all know Celtic Park is a no-go or a go very lightly area for the police, under Mullholland.

[RANGERRAB 3,258]

Its official. Septic are the most bigoted clyb in scotland.

 

And there is no political will to tackle this problem. Just lie, deflect & deny as has always been the case.

 

What concerns me is that I do not think the current situation is sustainable longterm. Our lot will wake up & come to their senses and belatedly realise they're getting truly shafted by people who genuinely hate them.