Muslims who launch a shoe at another person may not be committing a crime because the practice is Islamic symbolism, guidance from the Metropolitan Police says.
The rules are likely to be contrasted to police action taken against a Christian couple in Liverpool who were arrested and prosecuted because they verbally criticised Islam in a debate about religion.
At the weekend it emerged that a Muslim man charged with violent disorder for throwing a shoe at a protest had his case dismissed.
The court accepted that shoe-throwing was “simply a ritual form of protest”, according to the Muslim man’s lawyer.