Committee backs hate crime plans

Mar 5 2009

Plans which could lead to tougher penalties for crimes against gay people and the disabled have been backed by a Holyrood committee.

The Justice Committee gave the go-ahead to a bill by Green MSP Patrick Harvie which would make it an "aggravating" factor if victims of crime were targeted because of their sexual orientation or disability.

The Bill would not automatically create a tougher penalty but courts would have to take the motivation into account when deciding on a sentence. Racial and religiously-motivated crimes are already covered by this area of law.