Police ‘acted reasonably’ in Allison Pearson ‘hate crime’ case, report finds

Essex Police “acted reasonably” when it investigated a journalist for alleged incitement of racial hatred over a post online that has since been deleted, a report has found.

Daily 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.

News of the visit sparked a backlash, including from former Conservative prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who both called the incident “appalling”, and X owner Elon Musk.

But an independent review by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has concluded that decisions were made “in good-faith and without fear or favour”.

In his findings, Mark Hobrough, the NPCC’s hate crime lead and chief constable of Gwent Police, said the force “acted reasonably and in accordance with the Home Office Counting Rules to record a crime complaint.”

The behaviour of the officer who spoke to Ms Pearson had been “exemplary”, his report added.

“He did not become defensive or challenging and remained calm” after the journalist “began to challenge the officer’s actions”, the report, which redacts Pearson’s name, said.

“She implied that a complaint would be made to the Chief Constable by the Telegraph newspaper.”

The officer had already made one unsuccessful attempt to speak to the columnist before visiting her “early on a Sunday morning”, according to the report.

Responding to the report on X, Ms Pearson said: “Here are the police marking their own homework in my case which was widely viewed as utterly outrageous.

“A clear breach of my right to freedom of expression.”

She did not attend a voluntary police interview and the case was closed when the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was no realistic prospect of conviction for the offence of stirring up racial hatred under the Public Order Act or the Communications Act.

Some press reporting of the incident inaccurately referred to a “non-hate crime incident”, the report added, “despite a clear explanation” that officers were investigating an offence of potentially inciting racial hatred online.

Responding to the report, a spokesperson for Essex Police said: “In November last year we launched an investigation into an alleged offence of inciting racial hatred relating to a social media post.

“We acted appropriately and proportionately and investigated the matter which resulted in us taking no further action.”

Chief Constable Mark Hobrough said: “The reviewers concluded that the decision by Essex Police to record and investigate an allegation of the criminal offence of stirring up racial hatred was legitimate, in line with Home Office Crime Recording Rules.

“There is a high bar for prosecuting communication offences, which is substantially different than the grounds for recording and investigating an allegation.

“Therefore there are many complaints that pass the test for recording and investigation but do not reach the threshold for prosecution once investigations are complete.

“There are strongly held and competing views on hate speech and the criminal justice response to it.

“This matter demonstrates the complexity within the legal framework around hate crime and communication offences.”