Homophobic Facebook comments prompt Warwickshire Police appeal - The Stratford Observer

Homophobic Facebook comments prompt Warwickshire Police appeal

Stratford Editorial 13th Feb, 2016 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

HOMOPHOBIC content posted on Facebook has seen a 25 year-old woman from Shipston issued with a police caution.

Warwickshire Police say social media offences are becoming a regular problem and waste increasingly more manpower – prompting an appeal from the force.

PC Craig Purcell said: “As a result of the incident detailed a local Safer Neighbourhood Team police officer was kept busy for almost an entire day and was therefore not visible in the community and not dealing with community issues.

This is not the first time matters such as this have been reported. A single sentence can cause offence and result in police investigation.




The most common comments I see surround the travelling community or the ethnicity of people posted as suspects. Aside from the time it takes to investigate these matters they are also completely unacceptable.

We do not tolerate hate crime or comments on social media which are abusive or harassing.


We have previously encouraged people to report such matters so if they do occur we can deal with them and prevent further occurrences. Now we are appealing to the other side of the coin in the hope that we can prevent offences from happening in the first place.”

John Cooper QC said it was minority of social media users who were to blame.

He added: “The vast majority of people who use social media are like society. The vast majority are decent, intelligent, inspiring people. The problem comes with a small minority, as in society, who spoil it for everyone else.”

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