3 weeks ago
30
Laura Devlin
BBC News, Essex
Essex Police "acted reasonably" during a hate crime investigation into a social media post by the Daily Telegraph journalist Allison Pearson, a report states.
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) looked into the force's actions after Pearson claimed she felt "bullied and threatened" when officers visited the columnist's home in Essex on Remembrance Sunday in November 2024.
The Essex force has previously defended its since-dropped investigation over an allegation that a social media post, about the Hammas-Israel conflict, incited racial hatred.
In his findings, Mark Hobrough, the NPCC's hate crime lead and chief constable of Gwent, said footage from a body-worn camera showed the investigating officer's approach to Pearson was "polite and carried out in an exemplary manner".
The original investigation was sparked by a complaint by member of the public that a social media post in the early weeks of the Middle East conflict contained critical remarks about the police.
"The posted image was likely to mislead the reader into thinking this was from a pro-Palestine rally, whether intended to do so, or unintentionally so," the report said.
The report redacts details of the now-deleted post, from 16 November 2023, which the BBC has seen.
It shows an image of two police officers standing next to two men holding what appears to be a flag of the Pakistani political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Pearson's post tags the Metropolitan Police alongside the words "how dare they?".
It added: "Invited to pose for a photo with lovely peaceful British Friends of Israel on Saturday police refused. Look at this lot smiling with the Jew haters."
X added a notice to the post stating that the image was taken in Manchester, not London, and that it is "not related to Palestine".
The report, which redacts Pearson's name, states an officer went to her home and on his recording of the discussion "clearly states he is there to try to arrange a voluntary attendance interview, to assist the investigation into a complaint of inciting racial hatred".
Pearson "began to challenge the officer's actions", the report adds.
"She implied that a complaint would be made to the Chief Constable by the Telegraph newspaper."
The timing of the visit, early on a Sunday morning, could be judged inconsiderate, but the officer had already made a previous, unanswered visit and was "diligently trying to conduct his workload", the report added.
"Our view is that the officer's behaviour during this interaction was exemplary," the report adds.
"He did not become defensive or challenging and remained calm and polite throughout the interaction."
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme soon after the case was discontinued, Pearson said she did not think her tweet was wrong, and added: "I won't censor myself but I will be more watchful in the future."
The police visit to her home was not "standard practice" and was "absolutely unacceptable", she claimed.
She added: "Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader and many other people in the law, in politics, in normal walks of life, have said that is totally outrageous."
