Hate-crime awareness courses scrapped over backlash after veteran arrested for LGBT swastika meme

8 August 2022, 06:31 | Updated: 8 August 2022, 06:56

A police chief has scrapped a controversial hate crime awareness course which which gave alleged offenders the chance to avoid prosecution.

Previously, people accused of racism, sexism, misogyny and transphobia in Hampshire would have been offered a two-hour educational session instead of prosecution, but the course has now been scrapped following concerns that it was being used in order to challenge a person’s legitimately held political beliefs.

The course was funded out of the Police and Crime Commissioner's budget but new PCC Donna Jones has pulled the plug and saying she wants the restorative justice solutions "used in the right way".

It comes after Hampshire police faced criticism after offering the course to a 51-year-old army veteran, after he retweeted a meme which depicted four LGBT pride flags positioned to make a swastika.

The veteran was informed about the course before an investigation had been conducted and was subsequently released with no further action.

Footage of the arrest was widely shared on social media by campaigner Laurence Fox and former police officer Harry Miller.

Read more: Former police officer's 'transphobic' tweets ruled lawful by High Court

A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said: "We can confirm that officers explained that the hate-crime awareness course would be offered as an alternative to prosecution, in the event that the alleged offence was admitted."

PCC Jones told The Telegraph on Sunday: "I inherited a restorative justice contract when I was elected into office last year and the restorative hate-crime awareness course was part of that.

"I have decided that this hate-crime awareness course will no longer be offered in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by way of a community resolution option. The change needs to be planned properly but will take place in the coming weeks.

"In saying this, I want to be clear that when someone has been targeted and suffered violence or abuse because of their protected characteristics, and the incident reaches the evidential threshold for a hate crime, perpetrators can expect police action. This is vital."

Harry Miller, a former police officer who recently won a High Court case against the College of Policing over the way alleged non-hate crime incidents are recorded, was also arrested after claiming tried to prevent the the army veteran from being detained.

College of Policing guidance defines a hate incident as "any non-crime incident which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender".

He told MailOnline: "We welcome the intervention of the PCC but the police should never have been acting as judge and jury in the first place. 

"The public don't need re-educating by woke coppers who think it's their job to be moral and political guardians."