Hate crime soared during George Floyd murder trial screening, charity warns

HATE crime soared over the past three weeks as lockdown restrictions were lifted and the George Floyd murder trial was screened.

Victim Support said reports of race and nationality crimes jumped by 73 per cent above average in England and Wales.

The charity said reports were up 26 per cent in the past week alone.

It speculated that coverage of the trial and Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview, may have given more people courage to come forward.

Chief executive Diana Fawcett said: “We are extremely concerned that we’ve seen this huge jump in racially aggravated hate crime.

“We very strongly ­condemn all types of ­discrimination.”