Essex Police have closed an investigation into a journalist for alleged incitement of racial hatred over an online post they said had since been deleted.
An independent review will be launched into the force’s handling of the case after a considerable media backlash over free speech and concerns over the use of police time.
Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson said she was wearing her dressing gown when she was spoken to by two constables from Essex Police on Remembrance Sunday, about a year-old post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
They invited her to attend a voluntary interview at a police station, which she declined to do.
Pearson said police would not tell her which post she had been reported for, leading to her having to trawl through her archive and guess.
The columnist takes a pro-Israel stance on the ongoing war in Gaza, and has said she presumes it was a post expressing her views on pro-Palestinian protests which caused an unknown individual to report her to the police.
Pearson initially believed that the matter was being treated as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) rather than a criminal investigation.
The force responded that this was “wholly inaccurate” and said that “as the public would expect” it had body-worn video of the encounter, which it claimed “entirely supports our position.”
But the incident prompted criticism of NCHIs, which do not meet the criminal threshold but are nevertheless recorded by police.
Musk Offered Support
Several high-profile individuals waded into the ensuing debate, including former Conservative prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who both called the incident “appalling,” and X owner Elon Musk.The force added that the National Police Chiefs’ Council hate crime lead has agreed to conduct an independent review into the force’s handling of the matter.
An Essex Police spokesman said: “We investigate crimes reported to us without fear or favour. We’re sometimes faced with allegations of crime where people have strong opposing views.
Review Called For
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and shadow home secretary Chris Philp called for the guidelines on non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) to be reviewed in the wake of the case against Pearson.“Non-crime hate incident reports have increased exponentially as they appear to be used beyond the original intentions of the legislation created over 20 years ago.
“It’s time to look (yet again) at the guidelines and review whether the overall policy is still fit for purpose.”
“Police time should only be spent on criminality or behaviour likely to lead imminently to criminality.
“I urge the Govt to urgently change the guidelines on NCHIs to stop it happening again.”
Speaking on her Planet Normal podcast, Pearson said the visit by Essex Police had left her shaken and upset.
“Whatever I did or didn’t tweet, if somebody found it offensive, that to me is still not a reason for two policemen to come to my house on a Sunday morning,” she said.
