PART 2

Offence of racially aggravated harassment

Racially aggravated harassment
3
1
A person commits an offence if the person—
a
pursues a racially aggravated course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another person and—
i
is intended to amount to harassment of that person, or
ii
occurs in circumstances where it would appear to a reasonable person that it would amount to harassment of that person, or
b
acts in a manner which is racially aggravated and which causes, or is intended to cause, another person alarm or distress.
2
A course of conduct or an action is racially aggravated if—
a
at the time of carrying out the course of conduct or action, or immediately before or after doing so—
i
the offender demonstrates malice and ill-will towards the victim, and
ii
the malice and ill-will is based on the victim’s membership or presumed membership of a group defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origins, or
b
the course of conduct or action is motivated (wholly or partly) by malice and ill-will towards a group of persons based on the group being defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origins.
3
It is immaterial whether or not the offender’s malice and ill-will is also based (to any extent) on any other factor.
4
A course of conduct must involve conduct on at least two occasions.
5
In this section—
- “conduct” includes speech,
- “harassment” of a person includes causing the person alarm or distress,
- “membership”, in relation to a group, includes association with members of that group,
- “presumed” means presumed by the offender.
6
A person who commits an offence under this section is liable—
a
on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both), or
b
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or a fine (or both).