Independent review of the investigation into an alleged hate crime

In November 2024, Chief Constable Harrington formally requested that the national Hate Crime Lead Chief Constable Hobrough undertake an independent review of the investigation into an alleged hate crime.

The attached report is the result of that review. In the interests of transparency, and in line with the Freedom Of Information principles on the handling of personal data, Freedom of Information Act 2000, some elements of the report have been redacted as follows:

Redaction of names, personal actions/details of an individual not publicly known have been redacted as a result of the application of the principles under Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Re-publication of potentially inflammatory words/ posts/ images that could cause offence have been redacted through the use of principles in Section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Legal advice has been redacted in line with the principles outlined within Section 42 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Legal Professional privilege.

The report prior to redaction was marked as official sensitive, however since redaction this is now marked as official as per the top of the paper. (For clarity, the original markings have been retained on the report to ensure transparency.)