PART 2Offence of racially aggravated harassment

I13Racially aggravated harassment

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).