Religious hate crimes, mostly against Muslims, have risen six-fold in London since the bombings, new figures show.
There were 269 religious hate crimes in the three weeks after 7 July, compared with 40 in the same period of 2004. Most were verbal abuse and minor assaults, but damage to mosques and property with a great “emotional impact” also occurred, police said.
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said he had never seen so much anger among young Muslims.
Communities were particularly frustrated by the increased use of stop-and-search and the new “shoot-to-kill to protect” policy of dealing with suicide bombers, he said. “There is no doubt that incidents impacting on the Muslim community have increased.”