Hate crimes rise in Bedfordshire since coronavirus pandemic

Police forces across the UK have revealed the number of hate crimes against Chinese people during the coronavirus outbreak.

According to a report from Sky News hate crimes against Chinese people have soared in recent months after police forces were asked to reveal details.

Bedfordshire Police recorded four hate crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, compared with four in the whole of 2019 and five in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included an attempted robbery of personal property, theft and two offences of racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress.

A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said: "Everyone has the right to live free from fear or harassment. In Bedfordshire, we take issues of hate crime very seriously and will not tolerate anyone being attacked or abused because of their race.

"We encourage anyone who has been a victim of hate crime to report it to us via 101 or online here"