Grandmother spoken to by police after criticising Labour politicians online
In a series of Facebook posts Helen Jones called for the resignation of a councillor embroiled in the WhatsApp scandal which led to the sacking of Andrew Gwynne, the former health minister.
The 54-year-old school administrator, who was not accused of committing a crime, said she was left feeling scared to post on social media following the unannounced visit by two officers on Tuesday.
The WhatsApp scandal erupted after it emerged Mr Gwynne, the MP for Gorton and Denton, posted a message to Labour colleagues in a group chat saying he hoped one elderly constituent, who didn't vote for the party, would die before the next election.
Mr Gwynne made the offensive comment on WhatsApp group called Trigger Me Timbers after the pensioner sent a letter to David Sedgwick, a Stockport Labour councillor, complaining about her bin collections.
The letter was reportedly shared in the WhatsApp group by Cllr Sedgwick.
In the wake of the scandal, Mrs Jones repeatedly posted that Cllr Sedgwick must resign from his Heatons North seat.
In one post on a Facebook group called 4Heatons Hub, Mrs Jones said of Cllr Sedgwick: 'Let's hope he does the decent thing and resigns. I somehow think his ego won't allow it.'
In another, after posting screenshots from the Trigger Me Timbers group, Mrs Jones wrote: 'Not looking good for Cllr Sedgwick!!!'
Mrs Jones said two plain-clothes officers arrived at her home in Stockport last Tuesday at around 1.30pm, but she wasn't in and they spoke to her husband Lee via an intercom. She rushed home fearing something had happened to a relative.
At 2.15pm she received a phone call from an officer thought to be the same sergeant who knocked on her door and was told the police had received a complaint about her recent social media posts.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Mrs Jones said: 'It was actually quite scary. It made me think I best just keep quiet for the rest of my life, because you just can't say anything these days.
'I asked the police officer, have I committed any sort of crime – why did you call at my door? They said, 'Someone has spoken to us about your social media posts'.
'I then said: 'If I don't take your advice and continue doing what I am doing, will I be committing a crime?' He said no. I then asked: 'What will you do about it?' He said: 'There's not a lot we can do, we are just giving you advice'.'
Mrs Jones also asked why they had come to her within 48 hours of a complaint despite neighbours claiming they had reported more serious crimes, and had not been visited by the police.
'I'm living my life day-to-day, law-abiding, and then suddenly I've got the police at the door showing a warrant card,' she said.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: 'We spoke to the woman for six minutes to advise she was the subject of a complaint of harassment and to answer any questions she may have.
'No further action is necessary as no crime has been committed. We are under a duty to inform her that she is the subject of a complaint.
'The genuine threats that have been made to local councillors recently have meant it has been more necessary to ensure all reports are looked at.
'On this day officers were making 203 arrests for crimes like assault, burglary and rape. Tackling these priorities are why the complaint was dealt with two days after it was reported.'
It comes after a debate over the use of non-crime hate incidents (NCHI's) was sparked by Telegraph journalist Allison Pearson.
The debate flared last year after Pearson was investigated by police for the crime of allegedly stirring up racial hatred in a tweet about two-tier policing. The case was subsequently dropped. Pearson initially believed she was being investigated for an NCHI.
NCHIs came into force after the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, in order to monitor situations that could prompt serious harm.
But they have regularly been used to record trivial incidents. More than 13,000 incidents were recorded by police officers in the year to June 2024.
The College of Policing states that an NCHI is any incident where a crime has not been committed, but where it is perceived that the incident was motivated by hostility or prejudice.
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