1Aggravation of offences by prejudice
(1)An offence is aggravated by prejudice if—
(a)where there is a specific victim of the offence—
(i)at the time of committing the offence, or immediately before or after doing so, 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 a characteristic mentioned in subsection (2), or
(b)whether or not there is a specific victim of the offence, the offence is motivated (wholly or partly) by malice and ill-will towards a group of persons based on the group being defined by reference to a characteristic mentioned in subsection (2).
(2)The characteristics are—
(a)age,
(b)disability,
(c)race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origins,
(d)religion or, in the case of a social or cultural group, perceived religious affiliation,
(e)sexual orientation,
(f)transgender identity,
(g)variations in sex characteristics.
(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)Evidence from a single source is sufficient to prove that an offence is aggravated by prejudice.
(5)In this section—
“membership”, in relation to a group, includes association with members of that group,
“presumed” means presumed by the offender.