Children as young as five racially abused, hate crime summit told

Many people were now travelling out of town to do their shopping due to far right protest marches held since the publication of the Jay report into Rotherham's CSE grooming scandal, yesterday’s meeting at the New York Stadium heard.

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion said she had called the summit — attended by around 80 vicars, Imams, police, council representatives, the LGBT group, minority and anti-fascist groups — following last month’s police boycott carried out because of the increase in offences and the belief they were going unpunished.

She said: “I have become very aware that the level of intimidation and threat of violence people are enduring is increasing. This meeting is only the start.”

One audience member said: “My family will not go into town. Every time there is a march hate crime goes up. We need a clear message and that is that we have had enough. They are coming into our town centre and businesses are going bankrupt because of it.”

Another said: “Most women are going out of Rotherham to do their shopping.”

Muhbeen Hussain of British Muslim Youth, one of the groups involved in last month’s police boycott, said Islamophobic abuse was three times more prevalent in Rotherham than the national average, and added: “We want to tackle hate crime in Rotherham, but we don’t just want people reporting it, we need dialogue, cohesion and communities working together.”

Chief Superintendent Jason Harwin said lessons had been learned regarding the reporting of hate crime, how it was dealt with and engaging with some sections of the community. “People need to know there are safe ways to report a crime and that there will be empathy, and if we can identify those responsible then we will.”

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