I think something that people MUST keep in mind about these crimes is that they are not necessarily 'hate crimes'. With the Polish man killed in Essex, there were a few interviews with local lads (all races); all of them said that it was not a racist attack, it was a violent attack on an innocent person. It's very possible this group of kids would have done this to anybody who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If there are 750,000 Polish people in the UK, primarily living in poorer areas of cities, there will inevitably be crimes against them. Many English lads get killed in gang violence or by bunches of cunts acting like lairy bastards, this attack could well be no different.
If it turns out that the group are xenophobes, if it turns out that they specifically targeted the man BECAUSE he was Polish, then yes, it's a 'hate crime'. And even if they were shouting racist slurs during the attack, that doesn't necessarily make it a hate crime. It's the same as if you're in a fight with an obese person and you call them a fat fuck; you're not fighting them because they're fat.