VOLUNTEERS are needed to help the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deal with cases of hate crime.

Colin Chapman, chief crown prosecutor for West Mercia's CPS, based in Droitwich, said he wants victims of hate crime, or people in a position to understand the issues preventing victims from coming forward, to form a scrutiny panel.

Volunteers would be required to attend about four meetings a year where they would analyse real cases - primarily those where the CPS has been unsuccessful - to help improve conviction rates.

"Hate crime is when someone is discriminated against because of who they are, for example because of their race, religion or sexuality.

Mr Chapman said: "We want them to challenge us about what we have done so that we can learn lessons and prosecute those cases more effectively. We want them to look at how we prosecute cases and say we could have done something better or differently in order to get better evidence, or deal with the community or the victim or the witnesses in a better way.

"We lose more cases of hate crime than other cases and by working more closely with people from the community we hope we will become better equipped as local prosecutors to tackle some of the real issues around hate crime."

Mr Chapman said these types of cases can be difficult to prosecute because of the reluctance of people to come forward. He said: "When they do come forward, we don't necessarily, as local prosecutors, understand all the issues that lead them to either support or not support a prosecution."

Mr Chapman said he hopes having a panel will enable the CPS to win more cases, which will in turn give more victims the confidence to come forward.

Full training will be given. For more information call Lynda Jackson on 01905 825005.