So is racial abuse a capital crime in the UK?
While not a capital crime, racial abuse is considered a very serious offence and is treated as a hate crime. Racial abuse falls under hate crime legislation, specifically the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which covers offences motivated by hostility or hatred towards the victim’s race.
Acts like harassment, common assault, or criminal damage, if proven to be racially motivated, become “racially aggravated offences,” which carry much higher maximum penalties than their non-aggravated counterparts.
Under the Sentencing Act 2020, courts are required to treat evidence of racial hostility as an aggravating factor, which increases the sentence for any conviction.
Under the Public Order Act 1986, it is a criminal offence to use words or behavior intended to stir up racial hatred.