The Free Speech Coalition has called on police to drop the record of a “hate incident” after a student caused “minor damage” to a copy of the Koran when it fell on the school floor.
last wednesday, reported by the BBC Four students have been suspended from a secondary school in West Yorkshire after accusations of “minor damage” in the form of soiled pages on copies of the Quran.
West Yorkshire Police became involved after a 10th grade boy believed to be autistic brought a copy of the Islamic Bible to Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield.
Kettlethorpe Principal Tudor Griffiths said in a statement at the time:
“Calm Public Debate”
At a subsequent meeting at the local Jamia Masjid Swafia Mosque, the boy’s mother pleaded her son’s case to a committee including Imans, Tudor Griffiths and Inspector Andy Thornton. It will be recorded as a hate incident.
The Free Speech Union (FSU) said: director He tweeted, “It’s hard to imagine a chain of events that would have been more likely to dampen public debate and freedom of expression than recording this episode as a ‘hate case’ and attaching the data to the children’s records.” It was malice.”
FSU supports self-proclaimed freedom of expression advocates in England and Scotland.
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police told The Epoch Times in an email that no hate crimes were recorded, but that “hate incidents” were.
British police report non-criminal hate incidents (NCHI), described on the official hate crimes site as “non-criminal incidents in which the victim or other person is perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice” generally encouraged.
In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the Police College (CoP) guidance on NCHI records violates former police officer Harry Miller’s freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. was dropped.
The CoP’s latest guidance states that NCHI “should not be recorded if it is frivolous, unreasonable, or there is no basis for concluding that the incident was motivated by hostility.”
death threats
and letter Addressing Inspector Andy Thornton, FSU General Secretary Toby Young wrote: Koran.
“This made it clear that death threats had been made against the student in question, and that the mother of the student making these threats had been visibly pressured not to receive the threat, and that these threats had been made. I understand that no police action will be taken against anyone who has committed a crime, please pursue this matter at an event held at your local mosque,” he added.
At that event, Mr. Young said that even though an investigation by the school concluded that “there was no malice” behind this one-page minor damage, Mr. Thornton said that this minor damage to students’ private property was I said it was being treated as a hate incident. Book.
“If, from the handling of other cases, the police conclude that a ‘non-criminal hate case’ was perpetrated by an individual or group of individuals, that information will be kept on file and subject to enhanced criminal record checks. I know it could show up. It showed up,” Young said.
Fair Cop, co-founded by Miller, was set up in response to what was dubbed ‘Big Brother’ by various police and other authorities in England.
Miller told The Epoch Times that he believes the incident was “back door Shariah.”
“It was a public humiliation, wasn’t it? They did everything but put them in stocks and throw tomatoes at them, and the fact that there was a chief inspector there to back it up is disgusting,” he said. added.
“There’s backdoor sharia, and it’s a no-brainer,” says Miller.
He said the possible issuance of the NCHI represented “absolute contempt of the courts and the public by the West Yorkshire Police, demonstrating absolute submission to the Shariah”.
hate incident
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email:
“Police were informed of an incident that occurred at a school earlier in the day on the evening of Thursday, February 23. Initial investigations confirmed minor damage to religious documents. documented a hate incident, but we are confident from our investigation that no crime was committed,” he said.
“There were also reports of malicious communication crimes related to threats being made to children in connection with this incident. The suspect was also identified as a child and was advised by police officers,” it said. he added.
“We remain in contact with the school and neighborhood officials are conducting additional reassurance patrols in the area,” a spokesperson said.