Nottinghamshire Police have cautioned two men for shouting “they don’t sell bombs here” at a Muslim family as they walked through an outdoor market.
The incident occurred on May 18 at around 13:45 GMT.
Speaking to Tell MAMA, a family member, who wishes to remain anonymous, described how the Islamophobic and anti-Muslim abuse left them fearing for their family’s safety, so, they informed the police.
After Nottinghamshire Police located the suspects, neither could recall the incident, claiming they were ‘too drunk’.
The family member, however, declined to take the matter further, citing a previous bad experience with the criminal justice service, which resulted in Nottinghamshire Police issuing cautions to the men.
The two perpetrators were white and ranging in age – from their mid-twenties to their mid-thirties.
The Victim and Witness Satisfaction Survey, published by the CPS, is a useful measure of satisfaction with the justice system. Several important and wide-ranging recommendations, made in 2015, included more transparency and keeping those who have experienced hate crime better informed or why charges were either altered, dropped, or upheld. Victims of hate crime and witnesses were more likely than victims of non-aggravated offences to be satisfied with final charges given to perpetrators. The report added that “satisfaction with the final charges is associated with victims and witnesses feeling that the CPS helped them to cope and recover from their experience.” The police were, therefore, also more likely to ascertain the needs of vulnerable hate crime victims, including referrals to third-party agencies.
There are institutional barriers and personal biases that Muslims and those from other minority groups are often disadvantaged when they engage with the criminal justice service. Polling released that year, by the solicitors Hodge Jones & Allen, found that just 20 per cent of Muslims surveyed stated that they could trust legal professionals – compared to the national average of 37 per cent.
Academics have found that the quality of the service given by those within criminal justice service is more important than the outcome for those who experience hate crimes.
Tell MAMA has continued to document how Muslims have faced discriminatory, hurtful, and dehumanising language directed at them that referenced bombs or explosives. Others have described how teaching staff misapplied safeguarding policies, including over a Muslim child’s water pistol and their father’s legally-obtained permit to use firearms for clay pigeon shooting.
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