the times | Wednesday December 22 2021 2GM 9
News
Priti Patel will warn police to do more to
protect freedom of speech after judges
ruled that recording “non-crime hate
incidents” risked interfering with
people’s right to express their opinions.
The home secretary will try to en-
shrine in law a new code of practice that
controls the way officers record such
incidents after Harry Miller, a former
PC, won a court battle over his right to
tweet about transgender issues.
Police guidance had described non-
crime hate incidents as when a victim,
or anyone else, perceived prejudice
“because of their race, religion, sexual
orientation, disability or because they
are transgender”.
The guidance will have to be redrawn
after Dame Victoria Sharp, one of
England’s most senior judges, said that
it did nothing to exclude “irrational
complaints... and little, if anything, to
address the chilling effect this may have
on the legitimate exercise of freedom of
expression”. Sharp made the comments
at the Court of Appeal on Monday as
she ruled that the guidance on non-
crime hate incidents was wrongly used
by officers in Miller’s case.
An incident was recorded against
Miller on a Humberside police data-
Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor
John Simpson Crime Correspondent
Let people
express their
views, Patel
tells police
base after a Twitter user complained
about 31 of his tweets on biological sex
and gender. An officer visited the busi-
nessman, who had served with Hum-
berside police, at his work in response
to the tweets in January last year.
Patel is expected to table an amend-
ment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing
and Courts Bill next month to restrict
forces processing personal data relat-
ing to non-crime hate incidents, make
the process more transparent and
strengthen the safeguards.
The amendment is to address
concerns about current practices after
a series of cases including the recording
of a speech about migrant workers by
Amber Rudd, the former home secre-
tary as a non-crime hate incident.
Recording of hate incidents was in-
cluded as a recommendation in the
1999 report by the MacPherson inquiry
after the racist murder of Stephen
Lawrence. It was to allow police officers
to hold intelligence about individuals
involved in racist incidents. The
definition was expanded to cover inci-
dents involving other categories such
as religion, sexuality and transgender.
Miller welcomed the proposed move
last night and said he would write to
Patel, calling for all such records held by
police, more than 120,000, to be ex-
punged. “If they commit themselves to
sticking to the principles that were laid
out by the Stephen Lawrence review I
would support them keeping this kind
of intelligence,” Miller said. “But they
have to get rid of what’s there now.”
A freedom of information request
found that one man in Bedfordshire
was recorded for whistling the Bob The
Builder tune at his neighbour.
The Home Office said that the code
of practice would align with the recent
judgment. It said that Patel would set
out the position to the College of Polic-
ing and the National Police Chiefs’
Council. Patel said: “The police will
always have my backing to fully investi-
gate hate crimes but they must do so
whilst protecting the fundamental right
of freedom of expression.”
Recording non-criminal hate incidents
is waste of time, leading article, page 37Illuminated monument Light projections on to the west front of Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire are telling the Nativity
story over seven nights this week. Visitors are also invited to visit the crib and walk through its Christmas tree festivalLUXMURALISWhitty assault suspect gets dressing-down
A man accused of assaulting Chris
Whitty in a park was accused by a judge
of taking a “cavalier” attitude towards
the case yesterday when he appeared in
court wearing a dressing gown.
Jonathan Chew, 24, and Lewis
Hughes, 23, filmed themselves hound-
ing England’s chief medical officer as he
walked through St James’s Park on June- They appeared to put the scientist in
a headlock and demanded a selfie as he
tried to break free. Chew, who is alleged
to have given his brother’s name to the
police after the incident, denies com-
mon assault and obstructing police.
He appeared at Westminster magis-
trates’ court via video link yesterday
and could be seen lying on his bed in a
dressing gown, which slipped down to
reveal a bare chest. The defendant, who
coughed during proceedings, said that
he had tested positive for coronavirus,
although the prosecutor Daniel
O’Donoghue questioned the veracity
of documents detailing his test results.
Chew’s lawyer, Peter Fallen, told the
court he was withdrawing from the case
because he was “professionally embar-rassed”. Chew’s defence is that he was
being playful and wanted a selfie with
Whitty for his mother.
Yesterday he said that he wanted
Whitty to attend court. Judge Paul
Goldspring said: “Your cavalier ap-
proach to the severity of these proceed-
ings is breathtaking.” Chew responded:
“What does cavalier mean?”
The trial was adjourned until January
4 because Chew was unable to see the
CCTV evidence via video link. Hughes,
an estate agent, admitted common
assault in July and was given an eight-
week jail term suspended for two years.Ross Kaniuk‘Hate incidents’ recorded
November 2020 Douglas Kedge, 85,
a retired teacher, wrote to a pro-life
campaigner defending parents’ right
to abort a foetus with Down’s
syndrome.David Starkey, the historian, said
that “there wouldn’t be so many
damn blacks in Africa or in Britain” if
slavery had been genocide.January 2017 Amber Rudd made a
speech as home secretary about
measures to ensure that foreign
workers did not take “jobs British
workers could do”.A cheetah that was hand-reared by
Carrie Johnson’s wildlife charity has
died after it was pierced in the heart by
the horn of an antelope during a hunt in
South Africa.
Saba, four, was raised by Damian
Aspinall, who runs the Aspinall Foun-
dation, and became the first captive-
born cheetah to be rewilded from
Europe, with its brother Nairo.
They were flown to a private game
nature reserve near Cape Town in
South Africa in February last year
and had been thriving in their new
surroundings, fending for themselves.
The fatal wound was inflicted at the
summit of the 20,000-acre area’s
second highest peak. It is thought Saba
caught an antelope on the mountain
before being stabbed in the chest while
on top of the animal.
Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie, a former
Conservative Party communications
chief, began working for the AspinallFoundation, run by the Tory donor
Damian Aspinall, in January.
The cheetah was photographed
with Johnson’s arm around it in- Aspinall’s wife, Victoria, who
works as the head of communications
with Carrie Johnson, said that Saba had
Cheetah from Carrie Johnson charity killed by antelope
“made quite an impression”, adding:
“Boris nervously joked, ‘It’s like
meeting someone with strong but
undeclared views on Brexit. I’m not
sure whether he’s going to give me a
slobbery kiss or take my head off!’ In
the end, Saba just nibbled Boris’s woolly
hat.”
A post-mortem examination found
the injury to Saba was caused by
a horn, probably from a species of
antelope, which would have resulted in
a quick death. A monitoring team de-
ployed a helicopter after noticing that
the tracking collar was no longer
updating data.
An Aspinall Foundation spokesman
said of Saba: “His death was quick; he
died within minutes of the stab woundto his heart, and given the inaccess-
ibility of the location, there is simply no
way anyone could have rescued him in
time.... He enjoyed two remarkable
years in the wild.”
Saba was born at Howletts Wildlife
Park near Canterbury, run by the Aspi-
nall Foundation alongside Port Lymp-
ne Safari Park near Hythe.
The cat was raised by Damien
Aspinall at his home at Howletts, which
had its own enclosure for the cheetah.
His wife documented the cheetah’s
development on her Instagram page,
but the animal hit the headlines in
October 2018 after escaping into a
neighbouring enclosure, causing two
panicked deer to run into a wooden
fence and die.Ross Kaniuk Saba was
pictured
with Boris
Johnson
before
being
rewilded