No further action to be taken against Zack Polanski over guillotine T-shirt post, police say

The Metropolitan Police has said no further action will be taken against Green Party leader Zack Polanski over a picture shared on social media.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage reported Mr Polanski to the police after he shared an image depicting a man wearing a black T-shirt with a picture of a guillotine and the words: “We’re only making plans for Nigel.”

But in a statement on Wednesday, the Met said it would not be pursuing the case as “an extensive investigation was deemed to be disproportionate and not a reasonable use of police resources”.

A Reform UK spokesperson criticised the police’s decision to take no further action against Mr Polanski, saying: “Once again we see that we are living in two-tier Britain.”

The force said a crime should be recorded in relation to the wearing of the T-shirt, and as that happened in Bristol, the case has been transferred to Avon and Somerset Police to consider what further action should follow.

A statement from the Met said: “Officers have reviewed the reports, giving careful consideration to whether further action should follow. That review reached the following conclusions:

“It is unlikely that the sharing of the image online would constitute a criminal offence. Officers have considered telecommunications, public order and other offences, including incitement, in reaching this conclusion.

“The image in question was the 18th in a post containing 20 images. The person named on the reports received has stated publicly, either directly or in statements issued on his behalf, that he had not seen the specific image in question when he accepted the invitation to collaborate.

“Steps were taken to remove the post from his account when the issue was raised.

“The post has since been shared (whether by collaboration, reposting or sharing) by around 130 accounts. The image has additionally been shared on many more occasions on other social media platforms.

“We must not treat individuals differently solely because of their public profile, and therefore any investigation would need to have considered not just the actions of the individual named in the reports, but of all 130+ people and organisations.

“Given it is unlikely their actions would have ultimately constituted an offence, such an extensive investigation was deemed to do be disproportionate and not a reasonable use of police resources.

“Accordingly, no further action will be taken in relation to the sharing of the image online.”

More to follow...

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