Disability hate crime has risen by more than a third over the last year, shocking new figures have revealed.
The latest police figures show a 33 per cent increase in disability hate crime across England and Wales in 2017-18 compared to 2016-17.
Thirty-two of the 43 police forces which responded to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request recorded a total of 5,342 disability hate crimes in 2017-18, compared to 4,005 offences the previous year.