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

They revealed at least 267 offences were recorded between January and March during the COVID-19 crisis – including assaults, robberies, harassment and criminal damage – at a rate nearly three times that of the previous two years.

Find out how many hate crimes were recorded in your area below, with each force’s response listed in alphabetical order.

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Avon and Somerset Police recorded one hate crime against a Chinese victim in the first three months of 2020, compared with one in 2019 and one in 2018.

However the force added that 70% of hate crimes in this period did not have the victim’s nationality recorded.

The three recorded hate crimes were malicious communications; racially or religiously aggravated assault without injury and racially or religiously aggravated public fear, alarm or distress, but the force did not say which years they were committed.

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.

British Transport Police recorded 49 hate crimes against victims whose “ethnic appearance was recorded as Chinese, Japanese or South East Asian” in the first three months of 2020. This compared to 49 crimes throughout the whole of 2019 and 42 in 2018.

The force listed several hate crimes in 2020 in which victims were verbally abused about coronavirus.

One victim was told “go back to your own country, you have coronavirus you c****,” another was told “I’ll catch coronavirus off you”, and one suspect started to abuse victims wearing face masks and said they should: “F*** off back to where they came from, China or Japan.”

Other crimes included an offender who said “f****** Chinese” five times and punched the victim in the jaw, another victim who was spat on, an offender who used threatening body language and referred to the victim “as though they were an infection”, and an offender who said to a victim on at least 10 occasions “you are Jackie Chan aren’t you, you are Jackie Chan”.

Cambridgeshire Police recorded four hate crimes against Chinese people in the first three months of 2020, along with 13 crimes in 2019 and 12 in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included an incident where a suspect approached the victim and said “masks don’t work you Chinese”, before threatening the victim with violence and raising his fist.

Another offence saw a suspect approach a woman in the street and cough in her face, with the victim believing she had been targeted due to her race and the coronavirus outbreak.

Cheshire Police recorded one hate crime against a Chinese victim in the first three months of 2020, along with six in 2019 and 11 in 2018.

The force did not provide details of the offences.

City of London Police said it had recorded no hate crimes against Chinese people from 2018 to March 2020.

Sky News did not receive a response from Cleveland Police.

Cumbria Police recorded seven hate crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, up from six in the whole of 2019 and five in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included six offences of racially or religiously aggravated public fear, alarm or distress and one offence of racially or religiously aggravated harassment.

Derbyshire Police recorded one hate crime against a Chinese victim in the first three months of 2020, compared with six in 2019 and two in 2018.

The offence in 2020 was criminal damage.

Devon and Cornwall recorded 21 hate crimes against victims who identified as Chinese in the first three months of 2020, up from 11 in 2019 and 10 in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included two offences of racially or religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm and five offences of racially or religiously aggravated common assault.

There were also several offences of racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress in words/writing.

Sky News did not receive a response from Dorset Police.

Sky News did not receive a response from Durham Police.

Dyfed Powys Police said it had recorded no hate crimes against Chinese people between 2018 and March 2020.

Essex Police recorded 19 hate crimes against victims of “Chinese, Japanese or South East Asian ethnic appearance” in the first three months of 2020. This was up from seven throughout the whole of 2019 and six in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included assault causing actual bodily harm, robbery, harassment and sending letters with intent to cause distress.

Sky News did not receive a response from Gloucestershire Police.

Sky News did not receive a response from Greater Manchester Police.

Gwent Police refused to reveal the number of hate crimes against Chinese victims, saying it will be published at “some future date”.

Sky News did not receive a response from Hampshire Police.

Hertfordshire Police said it could only provide data from May 2018 when a new IT system was introduced.

The force said it recorded three hate crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, along with nine in 2019 and three between May 2018 and December 2018.

The three offences in 2020 were racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress.

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

Among the offences were racially or religiously aggravated common assault or beating and racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage, but the force did not say which years the crimes happened.

Sky News did not receive a response from Kent Police.

Lancashire Police said five hate crimes were recorded against victims who defined their ethnicity as Chinese, Japanese or South East Asian in the first three months of 2020. They were also 32 crimes in 2019 and 27 in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included an offender who threw litter out of a first floor window into a neighbour’s garden causing the victim to feel harassed and scared.

Another crime saw offenders shout and throw a drink at a victim.

Leicestershire Police recorded three hates crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, compared with one in 2019 and 10 in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included a group of youths who approached a woman and her friend and accused them of spreading coronavirus in March.

The alleged victim said she had faced similar incidents involving youths previously and she believed she and her friend were targeted because of their Chinese ethnicity.

An offence in February saw a Chinese woman being subjected to racist hate comments, while another crime in the same month involved a man banging on a window shouting racist comments.

Lincolnshire Police recorded three hate crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, with none recorded in 2019 and 2018.

The offences in 2020 included two crimes in which “an offender made a racist comment against a victim”, and a third crime when “an offender told a victim to go back to their own country”.

Merseyside Police recorded 11 hate crimes against Chinese people in the first three months of 2020, along with 31 hate crimes in 2019 and 33 in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included an offender who ran off with a person’s face mask after an argument in the street, before the offender returned and punched the victim in the face.

Another recorded crime in 2020 saw an offender telling a woman she “will pass on the COVID-19 virus”, with the woman believing the comment was made due to her ethnicity.

A family also had racist abuse directed at them in the street by a group of female youths this year, the force said.

The Metropolitan Police recorded 63 hate crimes against Chinese people in the first three months of 2020, compared to 76 in 2019 and 83 in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included 14 violence against the person offences as well as robbery, theft, burglary, criminal damage and public order offences.

Norfolk Police said it had not recorded any hate crimes where the victim identified as Chinese in the first three months of 2020, but recorded three crimes in 2019 and eight in 2018.

North Wales Police said it had not recorded any hate crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, but recorded five in 2019 and four in 2018.

North Yorkshire Police recorded two hate crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, up from one in 2019 and one in 2018.

The force provided details of the crimes but did not say which each years they occurred.

They included offences of racial abuse, threats of violence and spitting. Another crime saw a victim being told to “go back to your own country” and headbutted.

Northamptonshire Police said it recorded seven hate crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, compared to five in the whole of 2019 and seven in 2018.

The force refused to provide any details of the offences, saying “due to the low numbers and risk of identification”.

Northumbria Police recorded 14 hate crimes against Chinese victims in the first three months of 2020, compared with 18 crimes throughout the whole of 2019 and 14 in 2018.

Crimes in 2020 included three assaults, two harassment offences and nine offences of causing public fear, alarm or distress.

Sky News did not receive a response from Nottinghamshire Police.

Sky News did not receive a response from Police Scotland.

Sky News did not receive a response from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

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