'Tory MP and Deputy Party Chairman Rachel Maclean had a “non-crime hate incident” (NCHI) added to her record by local police for tweeting that the Greens “don’t know what a woman is” in December. A comment that no doubt came after seeing the Green candidate…
The Free Speech Union, which is also working north of the border on Tory MSP Murdo Fraser’s case, took on Maclean’s. They have now succeeded in, following an apology from the police, getting the “incident” deleted altogether by establishing that what Maclean said does not represent a “real risk of significant harm to individuals or groups with a particular characteristic and/or a real risk that a future criminal offence may be committed against” them. This is clearly set out in the new statutory guidance…
A response, sent yesterday from West Mercia Police Deputy Chief Constable Richard Cooper, establishes the mistake has been rectified:
“Having sought the advice from the Legal Department and Force Crime and Incident Registrar, it has been determined that the incident did not meet the definition of an ‘incident’ as defined by the National Standard for Incident Recording.
As a result, the ‘hate incident’ and indeed the personal details have now been removed from the West Mercia Police systems.“'
Good. It should never have been recorded in the first place.