Now trans and gay hate crime will mean SIX months in jail
by Steve Doughty, Mailonline:
Judges have been ordered to hand out tough jail terms in a crackdown on transgender and homophobic hate crimes.
Offenders found guilty of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexuality should get at least six months in prison, new sentencing guidelines state.
And there should be a six-year jail sentence for those convicted of the worst cases of intolerance against gay or transgender people.
The instructions, released yesterday by the judge-led Sentencing Council – the statutory body that recommends punishment levels – mean transgender hate offences will receive harsher sentences than domestic burglaries.
It comes after police figures revealed reports of hate crimes soared last year, with transgender hate crimes up 37 per cent on the year before.
Mr Justice Julian Goose, of the Council, said the guidelines would help the courts take a ‘consistent approach’ to sentencing the offences, adding: ‘Public order is essential for the safe-functioning of society and the law seeks to protect the public from behaviour which undermines this.’
The instructions, which will come into effect on January 1, follow a series of cases in which police have been accused of launching heavy-handed investigations into transgender hate crime allegations.
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