HC Deb 12 January 1989 vol 144 cc727-8W
Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been in each year since enactment under (a) the Public Order Act and (b) the Malicious Communications Act for offences relating to racial harassment.

Mr. John Patten

[holding answer 21 December 1988]: The information available centrally, which may be incomplete, shows six prosecutions in 1987 under part III of the Public Order Act 1986 relating to acts intended or likely to stir up racial hatred. No information is yet available for 1988 or on the use of the Malicious Communications Act 1988, which did not come into force until September 1988.