A SPECIALIST police team investigating crimes against MPs probed more than 50 complaints in six months after the murder of Jo Cox.

Cases involving hate-filled messages, harassment and criminal damage were reported to the Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team at the Metropolitan Police between last August and early February this year.

The squad received 33 reports of malicious communications, which can include Twitter trolling, 13 reports of theft, three reports of harassment and four allegations of criminal damage.

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Last year, it emerged that nearly £640,000 was spent on bolstering security for MPs in the wake of the death of Ms Cox, who was shot and stabbed by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair on June 16hher, just days before the EU referendum.