Essex Police have confirmed they are investigating alleged criminal racial hatred after columnist Allison Pearson said she was “dumbfounded and upset” when she was questioned by police last week.

Essex Police say they are investigating Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson over an alleged criminal offence, rather than for a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) as she has suggested.

Essex Police has defended its actions after Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson said she was left “dumbstruck” by a visit to her home on Remembrance Sunday over a social media post. Officers visited Pearson as part of an investigation into alleged incitement to racial hatred, following a complaint from a member of the public, the force said.

Essex Police say they are investigating an alleged criminal offence of inciting racial hatred, after Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson said she was "dumbfounded and upset" when officers knocked on her door last Sunday.

When Allison Pearson posted on X in the wake of the pro-Palestine protests, she never expected to find herself at the centre of a major police investigation. But on Remembrance Sunday, the award-winning writer found herself questioned at her home by two officers accusing her of hate speech.