Child, 9, among kids investigated by police for hate ‘incidents’ after calling classmate ‘r****d’
15 November 2024, 05:41 | Updated: 15 November 2024, 08:11
Children as young as nine are being investigated by police for non-crime hate incidents, according to a new report.
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Police responded to one incident where a nine-year-old pupil called a student a “r*****” and another against two secondary school girls who said that another pupil smelled “like fish”.
These students were among a slew of young people being investigated for having committed non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), according to a freedom of information request by the Times.
Under government guidance, NCHIs are only supposed to be recorded by police when they are “clearly motivated by intentional hostility” with a real chance of escalation.
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Arguments and insults in classrooms are not expected to be recorded.
However, according to the Times, many police forces across the country are confused about the enforcement of NCHIs.
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More than 13,200 hate incidents have been recorded over the last year, according to statistics from 45 of Britain’s 48 police forces.
Sir Keir Starmer’s office told the outlet the Home Office will review its guidance in an attempt to balance “the fundamental right to free speech” while giving police sufficient power to combat hate speech.
Humberside and West Yorkshire police are among the forces to have investigated children over the last 12 months, despite guidance suggesting classroom incidents should be referred to “the school management team”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary and former policing minister, said: “These examples are obviously totally absurd. Pursuing these sorts of incidents is a total waste of police time — they should be concentrating on criminals. It risks having a chilling effect on free speech, one of the fundamental values of this country.
“Police should only record incidents where there is a clear and genuine risk that the behaviour in question could lead to an actual crime being committed.”
