JUST one in 20 sexual orientation hate crimes resulted in a charge or summons to court in Essex, new figures suggest.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that there were 590 sexual orientation hate crimes recorded by Essex Police last year.

 Of those, just 31 crimes, five per cent, led to a charge or summons at the time of request. 

In Essex, sexual orientation motivated hate crimes rose by 46 per cent, from 516 in the 2020, to 2021 period, to 751 in the 2021, to 2022 period.

Robbie de Santos, director of communications and external affairs at Stonewall LGBTQ charity said: “Society must do more to stop anti-LGBTQ+ violence and call out abuse, harassment and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment wherever we see it.

"But we also need a greater commitment from the police to take decisive action to follow up and investigate these offences."

Meanwhile, Home Office figures recently released show that the number of such offences across England and Wales has soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.

26,000 crimes were recorded in the year to March, a 41 per cent rise on the year before, when there were 18,600 crimes, and a 65 per cent increase on 2019-20.