England's Euros defeat and lockdown easing led to hate crime surge - with rise of more than a third in Greater Manchester

Racially or religiously-aggravated offences recorded by Greater Manchester Police increased by more than a third over 12 months, new figures reveal. And the statistics show nationally, offences hit a fresh high in 2021, with reaction to England's defeat to Italy in the final of the Euros football championship said to have contributed to the rise.

Police made a number of arrests in the weeks following the final, after abusive posts on social media targeted England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, all of whom missed penalties.

One football fan who live-streamed himself on Facebook racially abusing the players was later handed a 10-week prison sentence, while another received a six-week sentence for racially abusing Rashford on Twitter.

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According to the Home Office, five racially or religiously aggravated offences are by definition hate crimes. They are racially or religiously aggravated assault with injury; racially or religiously aggravated assault without injury, racially or religiously aggravated harassment, racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage and racially or religiously aggravated public fear, alarm or distress.

Of the 44 forces in England and Wales, 39 reported a rise in offences from 2020 to 2021, while 34 forces saw numbers last year reach a new high.

In Greater Manchester, 4,724 offences were recorded in 2020, compared to 6,431 last year. That equates to a 36 per cent year-on-year rise. The easing of Covid-19 restrictions was another factor named by forces as having led to the rise in offences, along with improved recording of hate crimes.

A total of 76,884