Scottish Government

Main Findings

Update of Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service ( COPFS) Report

• When comparing the first six months of operation of Section 74 (27 ^th June 2003 - 31 ^st December 2003) with data for the same period in 2004 (27 ^th June - 31 ^st December 2004) - the number of incidents reported with a religious aggravation increase by 55%. During these 2 time periods, there were broadly similar patterns of Section 74 usage, with the exception that football related offences accounted for a higher percentage of reported cases in June-December 2004 and a higher percentage of cases were brought against 16-20 year olds in June-December 2004. Due to the limited timescale of this comparative exercise, the significance of these fluctuations should not be overemphasised.

Analysis of cases reported to COPFS between January 2004 and June 2005.

• There were 532 cases with religious aggravation reported to COPFS between 1 ^st January 2004 and 30 ^th June 2005. The rate of increase in the number of cases was compared for six month periods between January 2004 and June 2005. This analysis showed that the rate of increase in the number of cases being reported to COPFS was also increasing.
• An extraction of the COPFS database for these cases revealed that there were a total of 726 charges with a religious aggravation reported between 1 ^st January 2004 and 30 ^th June 2005, of which 441 (61%) were proven. Three hundred and eighty six (88%) of the proven charges were for Breach of the Peace.
• The majority of the incidents reported to COPFS during this period occurred within the West of Scotland - 303 (57%) in Glasgow and 124 (23%) in Lanarkshire. However, of the individuals accused of committing religiously aggravated offences in Glasgow, 44% lived outwith Glasgow and 30% lived outside of Glasgow and Lanarkshire. It appears that although the majority of offences reported to COPFS occur in the West of Scotland, a significant minority of those accused of committing these offences reside elsewhere.
• There were 635 accused in the cases considered of which 92% were male with the majority falling between the ages of 21 and 40. Over one third (37%) of those accused live outwith Glasgow and Lanarkshire whilst 34% live within Glasgow and 30% within Lanarkshire.
• Whereas the majority of the offences occurred in Glasgow or Lanarkshire, the amount of offences in Lanarkshire decreased over this period when comparing six month periods between January 2004 and June 2005. The amount of offences reported in Glasgow increases when doing a similar exercise.
• Reported offences most commonly occurred in the street (28%), followed by football stadia (19%) and residential areas (15%). However, the proportion of offences reported that occurred in a football stadium increased when comparing six month periods between January 2004 and June 2005.
• During this period, 174 (33%) of cases were reported as related to football, 64 (12%) as related to marches/parades and 242 (45%) involved alcohol.
• The conduct reported was deemed to be derogatory towards Roman Catholicism in 64% and derogatory towards Protestantism in 31% of cases considered here.

Data sources

• The data used in this report posed a range of methodological problems. The findings in this report should thus be treated with suitable caution.