A nine-year-old who called a primary school classmate a “retard” is among thousands of people investigated by police for non-crime hate incidents, according to reports.
Forces also recorded a row where two secondary schoolgirls who said that another pupil smelt “like fish”.
They were among several cases of children being logged as having committed NCHIs, according to Freedom of Information requests to police by The Times.
Government guidance says that such incidents are supposed to be recorded for incidents “clearly motivated by intentional hostility” and where there is a real risk of escalation “causing significant harm or a criminal offence”.
Classroom incidents that do not amount to a crime are not meant to be logged, nor those involving journalists expressing lawful views with no hostility.
A row erupted after Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson said she was “dumbfounded and upset” when police knocked on her door on Remembrance Sunday to informed her she was being investigated for alleged incitement of racial hatred over a year-old deleted post on X, formerly Twitter.
Ms Pearson said she was wearing her dressing gown when she was spoken to by two constables at home in Saffron Walden.
Essex Police deny the writer was told she was being investigated over an NCHI.
Her conversation with officers, who had made attempts to contact Ms Pearson before the visit, was captured on body-worn video, it said.
News of the visit sparked a growing backlash, including from two former Conservative prime ministers and X owner Elon Musk.
Data collected by The Times shows the recording of NCHIs is widespread and there is confusion among police over what type of incident should be recorded.
More than 13,200 hate incidents were recorded in the 12 months to June, according to statistics from UK police forces.
Critics argue whether NCHIs are an appropriate use of resources, particularly in cases involving children.
No 10 said the Home Office would review its guidance to protect “the fundamental right to free speech” and ensure police could deal with issues “that matter most” to communities.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman added: “Ultimately it’s important that the police can capture data relating to non-crime hate incidents to capture data relating the police where it is a proportionate and necessary to do so to help prevent serious crimes which may later occur.”
The Daily Telegraph reports the Metropolitan Police, Sussex Police and Essex Police were all involved in the investigation into Pearson’s single social media post over the past year.
Essex Police said the officers went to an address in Saffron Walden on Sunday to invite Ms Pearson to attend a voluntary interview as part of their investigation.
A spokesman said: “We’re investigating a report which was passed to us by another force.
“The report relates to a social media post which was subsequently removed.
“An investigation is now being carried out under Section 17 of the Public Order Act.”
Ms Pearson said she did not believe she had done anything wrong.
“This was the most extraordinary overreach and state intrusion into my private life and I don’t think I did anything wrong and I think their response was outrageous,” she told her Planet Normal podcast.
“Whatever I posted – and I have no recollection, clearly – if it was a year ago, it was just around the time after the October 7 massacres in Israel so it could have been linked to that or it possibly could’ve been linked to the pro-Palestine marches.”
Since speaking out, Ms Pearson has found support from Conservatives and online commentators.
Mr Musk quoted an X post about the incident and said: “This needs to stop.”
Former prime minister Boris Johnson said: “This is appalling. How can Starmer’s Britain lecture other countries about free speech when an innocent journalist gets a knock on the door – for a tweet? Our police have their hands full of burglaries and violent crime. They are being forced to behave like a woke Securitate – and it has to stop.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp shared a screenshot of a post about Ms Pearson’s column with the caption: “The police should not waste time and resources targeting journalists or the public for simply expressing opinions.
“Only where the criminal threshold is met should police be become involved. I do not think officers should be policing thought – only actual crimes.”
And former prime minister Liz Truss called the incident “appalling bullying” of Ms Pearson.
“Yet another affront to free speech,” she said in a post on X.
“We must speak out and fight back against this appalling bullying of Allison Pearson.”
Essex Police said they have registered complaints with media regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
It added: “There has been a large amount of false reporting about an ongoing investigation and the force has registered complaints with Ipso.”
