Ireland

Orde concerned at rise in NI racist attacks

The PSNI chief constable, Mr  Hugh Orde, today expressed serious concern about the rapid increase in racial attacks in the North…

Thu May 13 2004 - 01:00

The PSNI chief constable, Mr  Hugh Orde, today expressed serious concern about the rapid increase in racial attacks in the North.

The numbers are still very small but that doesn't underestimate the impact on those victims," he said. "It is still nowhere as severe as other parts of the UK but we take it very seriously.
PSNI chief constable Hugh Orde

Police figures released today showed that the number of reported racially motivated incidents doubled in Northern Ireland in 2003-4.

Senior police officers believe that the 453 reported incidents are only a fraction of the actual total.  A third of the incidents took place in South Belfast, which has a large Chinese and Indian population.

Mr Orde said his officers were working closely with ethnic minority communities to establish confidence and trust. "The numbers are still very small but that doesn't underestimate the impact on those victims," he said. "It is still nowhere as severe as other parts of the UK but we take it very seriously."

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The police believe that the lack of confidence in the service among ethnic minorities means there is a significant level of under-reporting.

The figures were contained in the PSNI's official statistics for the period April 2003 to March 2004, which saw a decrease of more than 14,000 recorded offences from the previous year.

The statistics revealed that the number of sex crimes increased by more than 300 - a rise of 21.2 per cent.

There was an increase in indecent assaults against boys, from 84 to 150, up by 79 per cent.

Last year, there were 10 reported incidents of unlawful sex with girls aged under 14, compared to only one the previous year.  Reported rapes were on the increase, from 317 in 2002/3 to 354 the following year. Homophobic incidents doubled from 35 to 71.

There was also a small increase in the number of violent crimes in Northern Ireland.

The statistics show the most significant contribution to the reduction in overall crime was due to the fall in theft offences.  There were decreases in burglary, theft, robbery, fraud and forgery, criminal damage and offences against the state.

Burglary offences fell by 2,270 (12.2 per cent), while theft offences fell by 6,220 (14.8 per cent) and criminal damage fell by 4,169 (11.4 per cent).