Police to take no further action against Polanski over guillotine re-post

The Metropolitan Police has said it will take no further action against Green Party leader Zack Polanski after he re-posted a photo of a man wearing a T-shirt with an image of a guillotine and the slogan "we're only making plans for Nigel".In a statement, the force said it did not believe sharing the picture constituted an offence.Polanski previously told the BBC he had made an "inadvertent mistake" by re-posting the image. In response to the Met's decision, a Reform UK spokesman said: "Once again we see that we are living in two-tier Britain.""Zack Polanski is allowed to get away with inciting murder whilst ordinary people up and down the country get a knock at the door for making a joke online."The Met said after careful review it had concluded it was unlikely the sharing of the image online would constitute a criminal offence.It said the post has been shared by about 130 accounts and the police should not treat individuals differently based on their public profile, meaning any investigation would have to consider all those accounts too."Given it is unlikely their actions would have ultimately constituted an offence, such an extensive investigation was deemed to do be disproportionate and not a reasonable use of police resources."While the Met Police said it would not be taking further action over the sharing of the image, it said it had determined that a crime should be recorded in relation to the wearing of the T-shirt and had referred a crime report to Avon and Somerset Police, who cover Bristol where the photo was taken.Shortly after the Met Police's statement, Avon and Somerset Police said "the threshold for a criminal offence has not been met".Setting out its decision, the Avon and Somerset Police said: "Particular consideration has been given to the context around the image; its use of song lyrics, and the marketing of the T-shirt as a satirical piece."No complaints were received from people at the event at which it was worn and there is no evidence the wearer of the T-shirt intended to threaten any individual, or encourage anyone else to do so."The force added they it took the safety of elected politicians "extremely seriously" and it would continue to take action "wherever a threat is identified". Reform UK reported Polanski to the police on Monday after he shared the Instagram post.The Green Party of England and Wales leader had shared the photo, which he said was the fifth image in a series of 20, having accepted a request to collaborate with the Instagram account of a photographer at an event.Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Polanski said: "If I'd done it deliberately I'd be apologising but because this was a mistake I think the important thing is that I point out this was a mistake, that I also make sure that I condemn political violence, and also crucially I make a commitment to be better on social media."Announcing the decision to take no further action, a Met Police spokesperson said: "We absolutely understand the reaction to this image being shared online, particularly in the context of increasing threats towards politicians."We take the safety and security of those in public life, including politicians, very seriously."Where we identify threats we take appropriate action and where there is evidence of offences we will investigate."While there will be people who will argue that those who shared the image in this Instagram post should be subject to criminal action, our review has concluded that on this occasion, the threshold is not met."Polanski has said he would not apologise to Farage for sharing the image, telling the BBC: "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."I think it's important that I draw a line and don't play his game... It is important that he's kept safe, it is important we condemn political violence, but I also recognise this as the political attack that it is."