By Andrew Doyle, Daily Sceptic.
A new report in the Times has revealed that police in the UK are arresting more than 12,000 people each year for words that cause offence. That’s over 30 arrests per day for speech crime.
So I thought it might be helpful to compile a list of UK citizens who have been visited, investigated or arrested by the police for speech that was deemed ‘offensive’. The vast majority of cases have not been reported in the press, and so I am only drawing on those in the public domain. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Please feel free to add more in the comments!
- In January 2019, Harry Miller was contacted by Humberside Police for retweeting a poem that was interpreted as ‘transphobic’. Miller asked why he was being investigated and why the unnamed complainant was being described as a ‘victim’ if no crime had been committed. The officer replied: “We need to check your thinking.”
- In February 2025, school administrator Helen Jones was visited by Greater Manchester Police after posting criticisms of Labour politicians on Facebook, specifically calling for the resignation of local councillors involved in a WhatsApp scandal. Officers later confirmed that she hadn’t committed any crime.
- In July 2022, women’s rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen was visited by Wiltshire Police officers at her home for a social media post that was deemed “untoward about paedophiles”. The police later admitted that the visit was “not wholly appropriate”.
Harry Miller (left) and Kellie-Jay Keen (right). - In May 2016, YouTuber Markus Meechan (a.k.a. ‘Count Dankula’) was arrested for posting a comedy video in which he taught his girlfriend’s pug to perform a Nazi salute and react excitedly to the phrase ‘gas the Jews’. He was later found guilty in court and fined £800.