Investigation launched after police officer’s belongings vandalised with swastika

Greater Manchester Police condemned ‘disgusting act’

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Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has launched an internal investigation after an officer’s belongings were vandalised with a Nazi symbol.

An unnamed member of staff arrived at work on Sunday to find that a swastika had been emblazoned on their personal items, the force said in a statement.

GMP said it was treating the “absolutely disgraceful and disgusting act” as a hate crime. Detectives are working with colleagues from the professional standards branch to find the culprit.

“We are appalled that one of our employees felt that this behaviour was acceptable,” said Assistant Chief Constable Mabs Hussain.

“It will not be tolerated and an investigation is underway by detectives alongside colleagues from our professional standards branch.

“A colleague has been subjected to a hate crime and there is no place for behaviour like this in GMP or policing nationally and it’s being treated incredibly seriously.”

Earlier this month, a serving police officer was charged with being a member of the banned neo-Nazi group National Action.

Benjamin Hannam, 21, of north London, was charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

He has been suspended from duty.

Prosecutors said Hannam belonged or professed to belong to National Action between December 2016 and January 2018.

The probation officer has also been charged with false representation by stating he was not a member of the group in his Met Police vetting form.

Hannam also faces charges of possessing an indecent photograph of a child in 2018 and possession of a prohibited image of a child in 2016.

He was granted bail following a hearing at the beginning of July and will appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 6 August.

In 2016, National Action, a neo-Nazi group, became the first far-right organisation to be banned by the British government since the Second World War.

The government has since proscribed spinoff groups Scottish Dawn, NS131, Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD) and System Resistance Network (SRN).