Police have apologised for their treatment of a gender-critical football fan accused of committing a hate crime for sharing ‘gender critical’ posts.
Linzi Smith was shocked to be informed that police had launched a hate crime investigation into her, after a fellow fan complained to Newcastle United that trans people would feel unsafe if sat next to her.
Officers probed Ms Smith, 34, after she suggested that some transgender people suffered from mental illness.
The football fan, who is gay, also wrote online that pro-trans activists wanted to ‘trans the gay away’.
Ms Smith was interviewed under caution by officers after being threatened with arrest if she walked out.
The campaigner said she was left in a ‘state of terror’ as well as ’embarrassed and humiliated’ by officers investigating her case.
She said that while she felt ‘truly vindicated’ by some parts of the report, she felt ‘let down and frightened’ by officers’ actions.
Northumbria Police has now admitted failings in the way Ms Smith’s case was handled, the Telegraph reported.
Linzi Smith (pictured) was investigated by police after making allegedly transphobic comments online, including suggesting that transgender people suffer from mental illness
While insisting there was no misconduct on the part of officers, the force accepted the need for greater training in handling hate crime reports.
In a letter to Ms Smith, it said it neither ‘disputed’ or took lightly the impact of the investigation on the football fan.
Offering ‘sincere apologies’ for the handling of the case, the force admitted that an officer was wrong to refer to a victim of Ms Smith’s behaviour who did not exist.
It wrote: ‘The service provided by Northumbria Police was not acceptable.’
Furthermore the force acknowledged that greater scrutiny of evidence was required for hate crimes, reports of which are likely to increase.
The Newcastle United fan had her membership suspended after police launched a probe following a complaint made to the club (file photo)
Ms Smith said that Newcastle United had suspended her club membership following the police inquiry.
She told The Telegraph that although she feel the police report ‘vindicates’ her, she believes there were ‘so many failings from so many police officers that led to me even finding myself in that situation in the first place.’
Northumbria Police said it was a matter for a club and not a decision the force had influenced.
Lord Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said he was ‘delighted’ by the police decision to accept fault in the probe.
But he added: ‘No one should be punished by a football club for expressing a point of view that is perfectly legitimate, not remotely hateful and which 99 per cent of the club’s fans agree with.’
MailOnline has contacted Newcastle United for comment.
