Cops probed ‘hate incident’ after woman claims neighbour hung dirty underwear on the line
POLICE probed a “hate” incident when a woman with an Italian surname claimed her neighbour hung dirty underwear on the line after England lost to Italy in the Euros final.
The record of the incident says: “Offenders have hung a very large pair of soiled underpants on their washing line.
“They have been there for over two months.”
Italy won a penalty shoot-out at Wembley in July 2021.
The alleged response — recorded by North Wales Police though no offence had taken place — emerged in a Freedom of Information request.
Gwent Police, in South Wales, logged a case in which a man reported someone “calling me Canadian”.
It was unclear what his nationality actually is.
In Warwickshire, a suspect was recorded for refusing to shake a person’s hand, which was “perceived to be hate-related due to gender identity”.
The revelations come after The Sun told how City of London police recorded a “rough haircut” as a non-hate crime.
Other such incidents included a complaint in Cambridgeshire after a German woman was likened to a Rottweiler.
In the year to June there were 13,000 non-crime hate incidents recorded — where no crime occurred, but the person reporting felt they were targeted over hostility or prejudice.
Campaigners, former detectives and politicians have called for them to be shelved so police can focus on their job.
On Thursday, Essex Police dropped a hate probe into the journalist Allison Pearson over a year-old tweet after turning up at her home on Remembrance Sunday.