PSNI probe into ‘f**k the Pope’ Tesco tannoy outburst ‘a waste of police time’
Jimmy Spratt – a long-serving policeman, now retired– made the comments after an individual grabbed a staff microphone at a store in Ballymena and shouted “f**k the Pope”.
It is being treated as a “hate incident” by the PSNI – which means they do not regard it as an actual crime.
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Hide AdIn recent years there has been a significant growth in “hate incidents” – which officers look into and record in their official statistics, even though they fall short of breaking any law.
Mr Spratt (who was also DUP MLA for South Belfast from 2007 to 2015) condemned the person who shouted those remarks over the tannoy, but also questioned whether it was worth tying up police time over.
Mr Spratt told the News Letter: “I think it’s a waste of police time. They’d do better trying to enforce some of the Covid regulations.
“Quite frankly I think that’s an area they are lacking in, given the manpower situation and all the rest of it.”
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