Essex Police have opened a new investigation into Julian Knight for serious sexual assault. The case was referred to them by another force. In March the Metropolitan had closed a prior investigation into the MP, however it wasn’t long before the BBC reported on four fresh complaints. Essex Police said:
“We have agreed to take on an investigation which has been referred to us from the Metropolitan Police Service. We are investigating an allegation of serious sexual assault. Detectives who specialise in cases of this kind will gather evidence and conduct a thorough investigation.”
Knight still maintains his innocence…
Essex Police, one of the country’s largest police forces, has sent out a statement denying a link between the referendum result and the rise in hate crime reported last week. They believe the increased figures are caused by an increase in reporting:
“There is no evidence to suggest any increase has been specifically and directly caused by any one event or issue… There has been an increase in reports of alleged hate crime across Essex, which mirrors a national trend. Hate crime is significantly under-reported and we believe that greater awareness and confidence in the police response has contributed to these increases in reporting.”
An interesting corrective to the media narrative that Brexit is behind the spike…
