Criminal offence
[ch 3: page 41]Causing someone serious harassment, alarm or distress can be a criminal offence, and in some circumstances, people who intentionally harass may commit an offence under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
The punishment is likely to be more severe if the criminal offence is motivated by a characteristic protected by the Equality Act 2010, such as sex, race, religious belief, sexual orientation or disability.