Officers seek to educate children after hate incident at New Milton Recreational Ground

Officers who had been investigating reports of a hate incident in New Milton have issued three community resolution orders to young children.

The incident occurred on Saturday 5 June at some stage between 3-4pm at New Milton Recreational Ground.

It was alleged that a number of offensive and homophobic messages were drawn onto playground equipment relating to a child within that group.

After a thorough investigation, those who were responsible were identified and their parents were spoken to by officers, and issued a community resolution order – which included writing an apology letter to the victim, but also to New Milton Town Council.

Chief Inspector Helen Andrews, said: “While we absolutely condemn the inappropriate images and language used by the children during this incident, it is important that we take this opportunity to educate them about why what they had committed was wrong, and the impacts this could have on the victim.

“We have spoken with the children and they have shown absolute remorse for their actions. However, we hope that this serves as a reminder that hate of any kind, whether it be verbal or written, will not be tolerated and will be investigated when reported to us.”

If anyone sees anything suspicious we would urge them to report this to police via the Hampshire Constabulary website or by calling 101.