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Hate Crime ?
Police officers visit pub to confiscate 'Golly' dolls despite force having previously decided no laws were broken.
Council confirms display does not breach its rules
This is the moment police stormed a couple's pub and seized their "golliwog" dolls - saying the toys were a suspected "hate crime".
Benice Ryley, 61, was quizzed by six officers after police received an anonymous complaint about The White Hart Inn in Grays.
She and husband Chris, 64, who is currently abroad, have displayed their collection of 15 dolls after receiving them as gifts from customers over the years.
On Tuesday Essex Police raided the pub and confiscated the dolls saying they were investigating a "hate crime".
CCTV shows six officers walk into the bar and question Benice at a table.
One officer inspects the bar before gathering the dolls and placing them into a clear evidence bag.
Speaking to Thurrock Nub News, Bernice said: "Apparently a visitor to the pub had been quite upset about them and made a complaint.
“Chris is away abroad and will be until the middle of May.
"Police said as he is the licensee they need to interview him and they have taken the dolls away in the interim.”
The couple have run the White Hart Inn for the past 17 years after taking over when the boozer had become run down.
The raid comes after the couple refused to remove the dolls after the local authority received a complaint in 2018.
Bernice added: "I don't understand why we have to go through all this again.
"We are quite happy to call them dolls, not golliwogs, but even the officer who wrote down the inventory as he was taking them away described the larger one as a golliwog and the others as golly dolls.
"So even the police don't know what to call them.
"I understand that some people may not like them and they are entitled to that view, but they don't have to come into the pub.
"As far as we are aware we are not breaking any laws by displaying them, and that was proved last time when we were investigated.
"If we were not breaking the law then, why are we breaking the law now?
"It took six officers to come and remove a shelf full of dollies. What a waste of taxpayers’ money.
"When the police officers came, I pointed to the dolls and said ‘they haven't done anything.'
"The gollies all went quietly - none of them resisted arrest at all.
"I think the racist people are the ones who complain – it’s their problem, not us.
"I have so many different cultures come in here, we are definitely not racist. We do many Indian weddings, for example.”
Bernice is demanding the dolls are immediately returned and has vowed to put them back behind the bar.
She fumed: "It is unreal - we haven't broken the law and there is no legal stuff that says I can't display them. It's just silly."
A spokesman for Essex Police said: "We are investigating an allegation of hate crime in Grays reported to us on 24 February.
"On Tuesday, 4 April, we attended a location off Argent Street, Grays, and seized several items in connection with our investigation."
Council confirms display does not breach its rules
This is the moment police stormed a couple's pub and seized their "golliwog" dolls - saying the toys were a suspected "hate crime".
Benice Ryley, 61, was quizzed by six officers after police received an anonymous complaint about The White Hart Inn in Grays.
She and husband Chris, 64, who is currently abroad, have displayed their collection of 15 dolls after receiving them as gifts from customers over the years.
On Tuesday Essex Police raided the pub and confiscated the dolls saying they were investigating a "hate crime".
CCTV shows six officers walk into the bar and question Benice at a table.
One officer inspects the bar before gathering the dolls and placing them into a clear evidence bag.
Speaking to Thurrock Nub News, Bernice said: "Apparently a visitor to the pub had been quite upset about them and made a complaint.
“Chris is away abroad and will be until the middle of May.
"Police said as he is the licensee they need to interview him and they have taken the dolls away in the interim.”
The couple have run the White Hart Inn for the past 17 years after taking over when the boozer had become run down.
The raid comes after the couple refused to remove the dolls after the local authority received a complaint in 2018.
Bernice added: "I don't understand why we have to go through all this again.
"We are quite happy to call them dolls, not golliwogs, but even the officer who wrote down the inventory as he was taking them away described the larger one as a golliwog and the others as golly dolls.
"So even the police don't know what to call them.
"I understand that some people may not like them and they are entitled to that view, but they don't have to come into the pub.
"As far as we are aware we are not breaking any laws by displaying them, and that was proved last time when we were investigated.
"If we were not breaking the law then, why are we breaking the law now?
"It took six officers to come and remove a shelf full of dollies. What a waste of taxpayers’ money.
"When the police officers came, I pointed to the dolls and said ‘they haven't done anything.'
"The gollies all went quietly - none of them resisted arrest at all.
"I think the racist people are the ones who complain – it’s their problem, not us.
"I have so many different cultures come in here, we are definitely not racist. We do many Indian weddings, for example.”
Bernice is demanding the dolls are immediately returned and has vowed to put them back behind the bar.
She fumed: "It is unreal - we haven't broken the law and there is no legal stuff that says I can't display them. It's just silly."
A spokesman for Essex Police said: "We are investigating an allegation of hate crime in Grays reported to us on 24 February.
"On Tuesday, 4 April, we attended a location off Argent Street, Grays, and seized several items in connection with our investigation."
Comments
Wow.
Four uniformed officers took away the items and later two plain clothes policemen followed up with a visit to the venue.
"spared jail"
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/suella-braverman-slams-police-for-sending-six-officers-to-seize-golliwog-dolls-from-pub/ar-AA19G14Q?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=f7065ba57e1f4c058bf423bc3954d369&ei=46
Now? They are routinely used to belittle Afro-Caribbean people. In much the same way as Blackface.
Why is the display there? Simply to ensure that any Afro-Caribbean entering the pub can instantly see that they are not welcome in that pub.
This hasn't been a sudden thing. There have been previous complaints, stretching back years. And the publicans refuse to move the golliwogs out of the sight of anyone walking in to their pub.
There was a time when Pub Landlords were free to discriminate against people because of their race, sexual orientation, disability etc. Thankfully, those days are gone. And, however much the likes of Braverman try to stop us becoming a civilised society, those days remain gone.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/police-force-deny-scolding-braverman-153103347.html
@Essexphil
I don't think any (normal) person cam disagree with a word of that, & yes, it's become clear, that the pub was frequented by certain sorts of (white) people, the landlords had an "attitude" & Afro-Caribbean's were actively discouraged to be there. Muslims too no doubt, racists are not fussy.
I think the outrage thing is - or should be - that it took 6 police officers to attend to the matter, when it seems to be that 1 would suffice.
When our homes are burgled we ought to be able to expect a prompt visit from the police, but it almost never happens these days. When Gill had her bad do 2 years ago, it took 3 days before a Police officer arrived. That's what upsets people I think.
But there are good reasons why it can take 6 officers to attend that pub. Simply because many people think nothing of physically attacking the Police these days. A lone officer would have been rather likely to have been attacked.
Police forces across England and Wales have been criticised for not recording hundreds of thousands of crimes reported to them each year.
Inspections of force databases have found offences, including violent and sexual ones, have not been counted towards official figures.
One force, Derbyshire, was found to have not recorded about 30,300 crimes a year, more than a third of the total in its area.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46894162
Crimes unreported as public lose faith in police
Victims are no longer reporting some crimes to police because so many offenders are never brought to justice.
A new report said the public are losing faith in the criminal justice system and have "rumbled" that police do not have the capacity to investigate.
The constabulary inspector said a suspect was charged in just 7.8% of crimes in England and Wales in the year to March 2019.
The Home Office said action should be taken if forces are not performing.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51408921
Most Britons don’t expect police will bother investigating crimes like bike theft or phone snatching
The majority also consider it unlikely those committing such crimes will be caught and convicted
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2022/09/29/most-britons-dont-expect-police-will-bother-invest
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/gollies-race-row-landlady-defies-police-by-putting-dolls-back-on-display-in-pub/ar-AA19IpM7
Publican Chris Ryley, 64, saw police remove 20 golliwogs from his pub last week
Social media posts for 'White Lives Matter' now causing backlash against him
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11961673/Pub-landlord-centre-golliwogs-row-denies-hes-racist-White-Lives-Matter-posts.html
Think we are starting to see the real story here now.
Probably more productive for the police to visit a couple of burglaries.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-65260945
A pub where golliwog dolls were seized by police should not be considered for "future awards or inclusion in our Good Beer Guide", the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said.
Camra said it found it "baffling" that the White Hart Inn, in Grays, Essex, chose to display the "offensive" dolls.
Police are investigating after a member of the public reported being racially distressed on 24 February.
Chris Ryley, who co-runs the pub, said the dolls were "part of our history".
In a series of tweets, Camra said it was instructing its South West Essex local branch "not to consider the White Hart, Grays, Essex, for future awards, or inclusion in our Good Beer Guide, while these discriminatory dolls continue to be on display".
A spokesman for South West Essex Camra said the matter was being dealt with by Camra centrally.
Camra said it had altered an entry on its Good Beer Guide App as it said the previous entry was "problematic".
It added a line to the entry describing the pub, which said: "Note this pub has chosen to display items that are considered by many to be offensive."
On its website, the pub said it had won the South West Essex Camra Pub Of The Year awards in the past due to its "great service".
Mr Ryley said the pub was used by South West Essex Camra and Thurrock Beer Festival for meetings.
"A mountain has been made out of a molehill," he said.
He said the pub had received more support than abuse and it was "still open and trading".
Police said a member of the public reported being racially distressed after attending the pub.
Five officers attended, where they seized several of the racially offensive dolls on 4 April.
It was reported that Home Secretary Suella Braverman had contacted the force about the investigation.
Essex Police said that was "categorically not true" but did not rule out having been contacted by the Home Office.
In an interview with LBC, Policing Minister Chris Philp said it is "up to police to decide how they respond to incidents" when asked whether it was necessary for five officers to remove the dolls.
Essex Police said it was "categorically not true" that Suella Braverman had contacted the force
Police said no-one had been arrested or charged in connection with the investigation, and the landlord would be questioned when he returned from abroad next month.
Officers were in discussion with the Crown Prosecution Service about the case before the items were taken last week, the force added.
Benice Ryley said she had displayed the collection of about 30 dolls, donated by her late aunt and customers, in the pub for nearly 10 years.
The dolls are based on 18th Century minstrels and are regarded as racist caricatures.
They first appeared on jars of Robertson's Jam in 1910 and became one of the most recognisable brands in the UK.
It spawned a range of toys and collectibles. In the 1980s, the name became Golly amid accusations that the character perpetuated stereotypes. It was finally dropped in 2001.
Pub landlord said, " They came over in a boat and he took them in as a Family of Refugees in need of a safe Home to live. They are not slaves who he makes work for him nor are they treated badly beaten abused, instead they are given pride of place loved and cared for which Customer cherish & buy them beers..... hic!
The offence is the Name attached to the Rag Doll which has give it the bad name.
Now if it were called Marley Doll ..... be happy every little thing gonna be alright.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/landlord-at-centre-of-golly-doll-row-being-investigated-by-essex-police-for-racist-posts/ar-AA19R3zp?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=2999e952194c47b9855109f454066a29&ei=9