A 12-YEAR-OLD had a rock thrown at his head after being taunted about being transgender.

The youngster, who was described as a pre-operative transgender now living as a boy, was walking home from school when he was approached by three boys.

One of the boys started laughing at the victim and questioning his gender before another threw a rock which hit him on the head, causing a large cut and requiring hospital treatment.

The attack was one of many prosecuted last year by Wessex Crown Prosecution service which covers Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Dorset and Wiltshire.

The incident resulted in the attacker receiving a six-month referral order, a type of supervision order, after he admitted pleading guilty to a charge of actual bodily harm.

The case was revealed as new figures show a rise in prosecutions for hate crime in the region.

Cases taken to court increased by nine per cent during 2015 to 16, with the Wessex region seeing 56 more cases prosecuted.

In Hampshire and the Isle of Wight specifically, the number of prosecutions actually fell from 441 in 2014/15 to 428 in 2015/16, but more of them resulted in a conviction with 87.1 per cent successfully prosecuted this year compared to 81.6 per cent in 2014/15.

Convictions in Wessex also increased by 2.8 per cent compared to the previous year. In addition Wessex saw the highest percentage of increases to sentences to reflect the hostility element of the offending.

Following the publication of the CPS Hate Crime Report for 2014-2016, Steve Hoolohan, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor and Senior Hate Crime lead for the CPS Wessex said: “Hate crime is driven by prejudice and hostility based upon a person’s race, gender, sexuality, religion, age or disability. It affects not only victims but also communities, creating an atmosphere of fear and distress.

“It is important that communities understand We treat hate crime very seriously and I would like to thank those victims that have come forward and reported such incidents and encourage those who have not to report incidents to the police, knowing that the CPS will do all it can to support them and bring offenders to justice.”