Charges against a man accused of posting tweets likely to stir up racial hatred have been dropped, Scotland Yard has said.
Police charged Matthew Doyle, 46, with a public order offence on Friday amid allegations that he tweeted about confronting a Muslim woman to ask her to “explain Brussels”.
But officers admitted later the same day that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) disagreed with their decision, adding that they did not have the legal power to bring the charges in the first place.
A statement released by police in the early hours of Friday morning said Doyle had been “charged under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986; publishing or distributing written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, likely or intended to stir up racial hatred”.
It added: “This follows an investigation by officers at Croydon police community safety unit.” The statement said he was due to appear in court on Saturday.
But, late on Friday night, the Metropolitan police released a second statement saying that Doyle was “no longer charged with the offence and will not be appearing at court”.
It said: “Police may not make charging decisions on offences under Section 19 of the Public Order Act. There will be further consultation with CPS.”
The CPS guidance says that people “can only be prosecuted [under that section of the act] with consent of attorney general.” It adds that the case must be “referred to CPS’s counter-terrorism division to be dealt with by specialist prosecutor”.
The offence carries a maximum jail term of seven years.
Doyle, a partner at a south London-based talent and PR agency, was arrested in Croydon on Wednesday after posting a series of tweets.
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