West Midlands hate crimes rise after Paris terror attacks

West Midlands Police recorded a total of 127 hate crimes with a racial element in the two weeks after Islamic State (IS) suicide attackers killed 130 people in the attacks on November 13 last year.

This was up from 96 crimes of a similar nature recorded in the first two weeks of that month.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, also show that religious hate crimes doubled in the two weeks following November 13.

Hate offences with a 'religious strand' jumped from five between October 31 and November 13 to 10 between November 14 and November 27.

Responding to the figures, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson revealed he is considering launching a hate crime helpline for the region.

He said: "I am committed to tackling hate crime and bringing hidden crimes out into the open.

"Here in the West Midlands, it is worth noting there has been an overall reduction in hate crime over the past year: down from 3,203 in 2014/15 to 2,589 in 2015/16 to date.

"My Victims Commission includes representatives from Stop Hate UK and I am looking into the feasibility of operating a hate crime helpline across the region.

"There are also 188 third-party reporting centres across the West Midlands where people can report the crimes if they don't want to go to the police."

Hate crimes which were specifically directed against Islam also increased following the attacks from just three in the two weeks prior to seven in the fortnight after, the figures reveal.

The figures also revealed men were much more likely to be the victims of hate crime than women. In the 127 hate crimes following the attacks there were 75 male victims compared to 45 women.

In November last year the Express & Star reported that more than 1,300 crimes had been reported at places of worship in the West Midlands.