But racist incidents not reported

But campaigners claim that for every logged incident there is at least one more that goes unreported.

Yesterday police released figures which show that racially aggravated incidents have been consistently falling since 2006, when there were 13 incidents.

There have been just four reported since March 2009.

The data comes after a racist attack left Javed Ashraf, a chef from Broad Green, battered, bruised and frightened to leave his home.

The father-of-three, who lost a tooth during the attack, is now on the road to recovery after a Swindon dentist offered him free dentures to replace the two teeth that were lost during the attack.

However, Jaginder Bassi, the director of Swindon Racial Equality Council, in Faringdon Road, said most attacks on ethnic minorities are never brought to the police for a variety of reasons.

He said: “This incident was really shocking, but I am happy the man came forward, and reported it hopefully it will encourage others to do the same.

“Many people are experiencing racial verbal abuse, that goes unreported.

“However, they often don’t report it because, either they lack confidence in the authorities, or they think it is too low level and feel nothing can be done.

“But there are laws in place.

“About 10 years ago the Home Office did a survey which claimed that for every incident reported between 12 and 15 go unreported.

“That is a long time ago and things have changed but it gives you an idea of how bad things could be.

“However, I must say that Swindon generally does not experience these kind of attacks on a regular basis.”

He added that his organisation works closely with police, temples, churches and ethnic bodies throughout town.

Meanwhile, Inspector Deb Waters, of Swindon Police, said the force’s fight against racist attacks in town – of which there were 10 in 2007/8 and nine in 2008/9 – has been working.

She said: “We are continuing to work hard within the community to tackle incidents like these and through continued close working with partners and through our neighbourhood policing teams we are seeing success with the number of incidents falling year on year.

“In Swindon we have a very successful detection rate with regards to reported racial crimes and the police support the SwindonREC where reported incidents and crimes are discussed at coalition meetings.”

She said that anyone who finds themselves falling victim to racist abuse should report it to police as soon as possible.

“We treat all incidents like this very seriously and will always fully investigate and provide victim support and advice.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about the SwindonREC, or who is seeking advice, is asked to call 01793 528545 or email swindonrec@btconnect.com.