Police to take no further action against Polanski over guillotine re-post
The Metropolitan Police have concluded that Green Party co-leader Zack Polanski's re-post of a guillotine T-shirt image does not meet the criminal threshold, halting further investigation.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Met Police state sharing the guillotine image does not constitute a criminal offence
- Refusing to investigate about 130 accounts that shared it due to disproportionate resource use
- Referred the T-shirt wearing incident report to Avon and Somerset Police
- Nigel Farage demanded an apology, which Polanski firmly refused to give
The Metropolitan Police have announced they will take no further action against Green Party of England and Wales leader Zack Polanski regarding his re-post of an Instagram image. The decision follows a formal report filed by Reform UK earlier in the week concerning a photo featuring a guillotine T-shirt and references to Nigel Farage.
Following a careful review, the force concluded that sharing the image online was unlikely to constitute a criminal offence. Police noted that approximately 130 accounts had shared the post, emphasizing that individuals should not be treated differently based on their public profile, meaning any comprehensive investigation would require scrutinizing all of those accounts as well.
Authorities stated that because an ultimate offence was unlikely, launching such an extensive investigation was deemed disproportionate and an unreasonable use of police resources. While acknowledging public reactions and growing security concerns surrounding politicians, the Met maintained that the legal threshold for criminal action was simply not met on this occasion.
In UK law, assessing online expression requires balancing free speech against potential incitement risks. When viral content is shared broadly by many users, police enforcement faces practical hurdles; investigating a high-profile figure while ignoring hundreds of other sharers would challenge principles of equal treatment under the law, illustrating the complexities officers face in digital-age policing.
Although the Met Police dropped action regarding the online sharing aspect, they determined that a crime report should be recorded regarding the actual wearing of the T-shirt. Consequently, the case file has been referred to Avon and Somerset Police, who have jurisdiction over Bristol where the original photograph was taken.
"You know as well as I do that as soon as I do that Nigel Farage would run all over social media saying he was correct about incitement to murder and this would all ramp up again."
Zack Polanski
Setting out their evaluation, Avon and Somerset Police stated they gave particular consideration to the context of the image, including its use of song lyrics and its marketing as a satirical piece. They noted that no complaints were raised by attendees at the event and there was no evidence that the wearer intended to threaten anyone or encourage others to do so.
Earlier, Farage argued that a political leader with a large following could not post such imagery without consequences and claimed he expected an apology. Polanski admitted sharing the photo as part of a 20-image collaborative post with an event photographer was a mistake, but he refused to apologize, telling BBC Newsnight that doing so would allow Farage to claim vindication on social media.
Source: BBC Politics
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