30th January 2026
On 29 January 2026, Dr Mark Brookes MBE, Advocacy Lead at Dimensions, was quoted in The Guardian highlighting the importance of recording lower-level hate incidents against disabled people.
The Guardian article examined concerns from campaigners and researchers following confirmation that police in England and Wales plan to scrap the current category of non-crime hate incidents. Mark shared his own experience of harassment and explained why these incidents matter, even when they do not meet the threshold of a criminal offence.
“Lower-level incidents add up,” Mark told The Guardian, warning that patterns of abuse are often missed when everyday incidents go unrecorded.
Mark has a learning disability and has spent many years working nationally to improve how disability hate crime is understood and addressed. He has helped train thousands of police officers to encourage people with learning disabilities to report hate crime and feel confident doing so.
As of January 2026, Mark now sits on the Timms Review, which is a government review of Personal Independence Payments (PIP), helping to shape how it works by bringing lived experience, evidence, and the voices of disabled people into national decisions.
Dimensions has a long history of campaigning on disability hate crime, including calls for better recording, stronger data, and meaningful action to prevent escalation. Mark has led much of this work, ensuring lived experience shapes policy, policing practice, and public debate.