Essex Police taking no further action against Allison Pearson

Essex Police says it is not taking any further action against Allison Pearson after an investigation into a social media post by the Daily Telegraph columnist.

The investigation has been closed, but there will be an independent review of the force’s handling of the matter, a police statement said.

The force previously defended its actions after Pearson said she was left “dumbstruck” by a visit to her home on Remembrance Sunday.

The visit was to arrange a time to do an interview as part of an investigation into alleged incitement to racial hatred, following a complaint from a member of the public, the force said.

Essex Police said in a statement that the force “has reviewed this case, having sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service. They have advised that no charges should be brought. We have concluded therefore that there will be no further action.”

The force said Chief Constable BJ Harrington asked the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Hate Crime Lead Chief Constable Mark Hobrough “to conduct an independent review of the force’s handling of this matter and he has agreed”.

“We investigate crimes reported to us without fear or favour,” an Essex Police spokesperson said. “We’re sometimes faced with allegations of crime where people have strong opposing views. That’s why we work so hard to remain impartial and to investigate allegations, regardless of where they might lead.”

Pearson publicised the visit from police after she penned an article in which she claimed she was told by the police who came to her home it was over a “non-crime hate incident”, but not told which post it was about.

The force said body cam footage of the incident showed that “at no stage” did its officers tell her the report being investigated was being treated as a “non-crime hate incident”.

A non-crime hate incident is where no criminal offence has been committed but the person reporting it believes the incident to be motivated by hostility.

The BBC has seen the now-deleted post the police complaint related to.

It dates from 16 November 2023 and 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).

The post tags the Metropolitan Police alongside the words “how dare they”.

It adds: “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”.

A number of political figures came out in support of Pearson, including shadow home secretary Chris Philp and former prime minister Boris Johnson – sparking a debate around free speech.

Responding to the debate, Essex Police previously said it supports free speech but “it does not support inaccuracy”.

“If an alleged crime is reported, it is investigated. There is no public interest in falsehood.”