Dr. Seamus Taylor:

The demonstration test usually, but not exclusively, pertains to the use of hostile slurs at the time of offending. It could also involve the use of graffiti, gestures and other symbols.

I did doctoral research on hate crime in England and Wales and I looked at 548 cases in the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPPs, office. I found that every successful case involved the use of hostile language as well as the base criminal offence, such as assault. I found that every failed case lacked the demonstrated hostility.

The demonstrated hostility is often integral to the offence. It is consciously used in the moment. It is often what the victim remembers for life long after the physical wounds have healed. In a sense, it is what is often crucial to securing a conviction on the day of court. I will give an example from my research. Two disabled men in a north-of-England city have become friendly through attending the same day centre. One uses a motorised wheelchair. One uses a walking stick. They often meet up on days when they do not attend the centre. They meet up socially in a square in the centre of that city. They met one day in the summertime some years ago in the centre of the city. They were sitting on seats in the square. A young man cycles towards them on a bike. As he approaches them, they hear him making a loud noise with his mouth. He slows down as he comes towards them and he lands a big spit on the man who is sitting in the motorised wheelchair, he shouts, "You f---ing mong", and he speeds off on his bike. Both men were shocked. They were shaken and upset, and angry. There were witnesses, both the man who had not been spat on but also other people in the square. They went to the police, the young man was apprehended and the case went to court. The hostility dimension was raised from the outset in the court. Although it is not required to be raised in Britain until the end at the sentencing point, it was raised at the outset. The defendant challenged the hostility dimension. He mounted a defence that the sun was shining in the square, it got in his eyes and it caused him to have a big sneeze. The witnesses' statement regarding the demonstration of hostility secured the conviction and the enhanced penalty for the hate crime. It was the actual utterance of the words, "You f---ing mong", that were witnessed by other people, that drove the conviction home. Without this provision, cases like that can be very challenging to bring to a fair and just outcome. I could go through several cases - I have 15 to hand here - to illustrate that same point. It leads me to conclude that having a demonstration test of hostility is important to effective hate crime law in the Irish context. It is also important in the sense of bringing parity across this island to the provisions that also exist in the North.