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A shocking proportion of attacks motivated by racism and hate are going unpunished in West Yorkshire.

In 132 racially or religiously aggravated assaults, which took place in 2017/18, where a victim was injured and which police investigated, nobody was charged or faced any consequences.

That's almost three-quarters (74.2%) of the 178 such crimes police investigated, according to figures from the Home Office.

Offences include physical assaults, harassment, vandalism and causing 'public fear, alarm or distress'. Some 26 prosecutions (14.6%) didn’t go further because the victim couldn’t support further police action to identify the culprit.

In more than a quarter of the cases (47) the victim wanted the police to act but difficulties with evidence prevented it.

They include cases where the suspect has been identified but cannot be traced and the crime is finalised pending further action.

And in 52 cases no suspect was identified and the case was closed.

This occurs when a crime has been investigated 'as far as reasonably possible' and the case is closed pending further investigative opportunities.

Less than a fifth of the investigated crimes ended with someone being charged (28 cases) or cautioned (two cases) or with community resolution (one case).

Across England and Wales, seven out of ten cases (71.6%) investigated did not end in a charge, caution or community resolution.

This means that in 2,324 cases out of 3,247, the attacker got away with the crime.

In 853 cases, the investigation was completed with no suspect identified, while in 610 cases there were evidential difficulties preventing further investigations, even if the suspect was identified and the victim supported police action.

There were also 484 cases where the prosecutions didn’t go further because the victim didn’t support further police action to identify the offender.

Only 25.8% of the investigations were resolved, or 838, including 712 people charged, 56 cautions given, and 70 community resolutions.

Iman Atta, director of Tell MAMA, which measures anti-Muslim incidents in Britain, said: “These figures are concerning since they are related to assaults and therefore, witnesses, CCTV or other forms of evidence could potentially track down the perpetrator.

“The high percentage of ‘no further action’ cases where no-one has been charged means that there is a serious risk that trust in reporting of these incidents and in the criminal justice system may start to break down.

“When that happens it is a slippery slope and trust takes years to rebuild.

“The reasons why need to be looked at in detail and which forces are reporting back on such cases where no-one has been charged.”

The number of reported violent attacks based on race or religion hit its highest number on record in 2017/18 with 3,247 crimes reported, up from 2,579 in 2012/13.

A spokesman for The National Police Chiefs' Council said: “People should be able to live their lives free of harassment and fear. Targeting someone and assaulting them because of their race or religion is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. These assaults can have a devastating impact on victims and the wider community.

“These numbers show that many cases have been affected by evidential difficulties, or circumstances where the victim did not support further action. Police will take all reports of assault seriously. We will investigate reports thoroughly and will look to prosecute based on the available evidence in an investigation.

“We will continue to work to bring offenders to justice and to protect our communities from abuse and would encourage anyone who suffers hate crime, or receives a serious threat against them to report it to the police, either by calling 101 (999 in an emergency) or online through the True Vision web site at www.report-it.org.uk.”