Racist crime requires effective policing

By apologising publicly and profoundly, Lothian and Borders Police has shown that when it does not get things right it will admit as much, learn lessons and implement new practices.

It was the first force in Scotland, if not the UK, in the early 1980s to keep separate records of racist incidences and it has developed a comprehensive network for this purpose. It often consults ethnic minority organisations, such as ours, and race equality bodies to improve upon the situation.

Contrast this with the Crown Office’s response on this matter; it did not even attempt to bring the aggravated factor of the racist attack before the courts. It beggars belief that while the police treats this as a racist murder the Crown and Prosecution Service disagrees. We have always been uneasy about the recording of racist incidents purely on the basis of what the victim or family says.

This raises hopes that this trend would continue throughout the Crown Office processing the crime and courts meeting the appropriate punishment; yet most cases do not pass the first hurdle.

This is due to a number of factors, the principal being that to record the crime as a racist crime no proof is required whereas for the criminals to be prosecuted corroborated evidence beyond reasonable doubt is essential. Otherwise there is a danger that these aspects of the case would be dropped.

It is no longer good enough for police to record a crime as racist and sit back for it to be processed.

It is important that before a case is logged as a racially aggravated offence there is prima facie evidence of racism prompting the police to do a more thorough investigation at the initial stages to ensure evidence will stand up in court.

This would mean some crimes do not get processed as racially motivated as it is better not to start a case on a basis which can not be sustained throughout.

The Chief Constables need to sit down with the communities and the Crown Office to work out a strategy to achieve this. Otherwise we shall swing from one extreme to the other with no clear strategy. Successful prosecutions in racially motivated crimes would be by chance rather than design.

Scottish police forces, particularly Lothian and Borders, despite failings in this case have got a good record of tackling racism. We would not wish to see them demoralised, but to learn lessons and make effective progress.

Parents, peer groups, authorities and voluntary organisations also have a big educational programme to follow to stem this at source.

We sends our deepest condolences to Simon San’s family and hundreds of other victims of varying degrees of hate crime and call upon all sections of the Scottish community to join together to stamp this out.

Huma Awan

Council of British Pakistanis (Scotland)

Broughton Street

Edinburgh

Laxity and confusion seem to reign in our legal system. On one hand the police failed to consider or investigate the possibility of racial motivation in the death of Simon San.

On the other, a student from St Andrews University has been convicted of a racially motivated crime (your report, 24 August) where there was, and could not be, a racial motivation.

Israel is a state. Anyone has the right to criticise the policies of a state.

The right of settlement for Jewish people into Israel extends to those who are converts, not just those born of a Jewish mother – this avoids the anathema of a state founded on race (imagine a “whites only” country and you get the picture).

Zionism is a political concept which is not supported by many Jewish people.

Even Jewish people within Israel question the state’s actions.

Conflating the Israeli state and Judaism is a clear error – no race or faith was attacked by this youth.

Helena Forsyth

Gosford Place

Edinburgh