Dear Lord McDowall

Freedom of Information Request - Incidents Containing an Element of Homophobia

Thank you for your for your request dated 3 October 2008 for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). You requested confirmation of cases reported in the past 3 years, broken down (year by year), which include a homophobic element.

The information you requested is not held by COPFS. There are currently no statutory offences or statutory aggravations specifically concerned with homophobia. Any such element should be noted in the police report and may be taken into account in prosecution decisions and in the provision of information to the court in any criminal proceedings. However, it is not recorded on our case management system. You may wish to contact The Scottish Government's Police and Community Safety Analytical Team which is part of the General Justice and Communities Directorate at St Andrew's House, Edinburgh who may be able to help you further.

I am sorry we are unable to assist with your enquiry. If you are unhappy with this response to your request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review, by writing to John Logue, Head of Policy at this address. Your request should explain why you wish a review to be carried out, and should be made within 40 working days of receipt of this letter, and we will reply within 20 working days of receipt. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to make a formal complaint to the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Yours sincerely

Lesley Shoniwa

Policy Adviser[Author ID1: at Fri Oct 17 16:17:00 2008 ]

[Author ID1: at Fri Oct 17 16:17:00 2008 ]

[Author ID1: at Fri Oct 17 16:17:00 2008 ]

[Author ID1: at Fri Oct 17 16:17:00 2008 ]

[Author ID1: at Fri Oct 17 16:17:00 2008 ]

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