‘We were not the Thought Police’: Essex Police commissioner defends investigation into… [Video]

17 November 2024, 13:52 | Updated: 17 November 2024, 22:39

By Henry Moore

The Essex Police Crime Commissioner has defended his force’s investigation into journalist Allison Pearson.

Roger Hirst rejected claims his force was acting like the “thought police” as he spoke with LBC’s Lewis Goodall.

It comes after Essex Police visited Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson’s home amid an investigation into alleged incitement to racial hatred.

Writing after the police visit, Pearson said police told her she was being investigated for an alleged “non-crime hate incident” (NCHI) on social media.

However, the force said “at no stage” did it tell Pearson the investigation was for an NCHI.

Mr Hirst told Lewis Goodall: “Well, certainly we don’t want thought police in this country. This is absolutely about having a free country, isn’t it, really?

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