Does Britain have a problem with Islamophobia? In the aftermath of the brutal attack on soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich in May 2013, there were reports about a spike in anti-Muslim incidents. Several mosques were attacked by arsonists and vandals.

Since then, mainstream attention has slipped off the issue – a silence that, a new report from the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) argues, is part of the problem. Collating reports of racist attacks from local newspapers that, for the most part, have not been picked up in the national press, it posits that “sporadic acts of domestic terror and violence against Muslim communities continue – it’s just that they are not acknowledged.”

The report, which looks at instances of racist violence in the first three months of this year, makes sobering reading:

In March, a jury was shown a video of a teenager from Loughborough throwing a homemade Molotov cocktail in an alley and, in other footage, spray painting ‘No more mosques’ onto a wall. The teenager, who with two others had already pleaded guilty to charges of possession of petrol bombs and pipe bomb components, is accused of arming himself and planning a terrorist attack on various targets including a local mosque. Soon after, Merseyside resident and Hitler ‘obsessive’ Ian Forman was charged with terrorism offences after bomb-making equipment was found at his home. When his computer was searched, it was found that he had stockpiled chemicals and created spreadsheets detailing what further chemicals he would need, where to buy them and how much they would cost. He also described mosques in Merseyside as ‘targets’. Just a few days after this man was charged, a serving British soldier was also charged with terrorism offences. A nail bomb had been found at an address last year, along with far-right literature. The street where the explosive was found had to be cordoned off as bomb-disposal experts were called in to remove it.

More details from the report, which also looks at other instances of racist violence, can be seen at the IRR's website.