As claims spread suggesting men from certain backgrounds have a propensity to commit certain crimes, here’s why the statistics fail to provide the full picture

It is a familiar pattern in news coverage of recent months: a horrific, often sexual, crime is committed by an asylum seeker or foreign national.

A flurry of headlines and commentary follows, suggesting that men from the country, ethnic group or religion in question have a propensity to commit these types of offence. A common theme was crystallised by the Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine on Wednesday after two Afghan asylum seekers were jailed for raping a 15-year-old girl: “For too long this country has ignored the reality of what happens when men from certain cultures are let loose in our liberal democracy.”