Police Scotland receives more than 3,000 complaints under new hate crime laws

More than 3,000 complaints have been made to Police Scotland under the SNP’s new hate crime laws since they came into force this week, reportedly after warnings that police would be overwhelmed.

Calum Steele, the former general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said he understood around 3,800 cases had been filed in the past 24 hours.

Although police said the number of complaints was still being collected, BBC Scotland reported the extraordinary total since Monday. Critics had said the legislation would be “weaponized” by trans activists.

JK Rowling warned Police Scotland against ‘pursuing’ women for transgender misgendering after police dismissed the first complaints against her under new hate crime laws.

The Harry Potter author said she hoped “every woman in Scotland” would be “reassured” by the police announcement that its position that trans women are actually men was not criminal.

In a direct challenge to Police Scotland, she said she expected all women who expressed similar views to be treated equally under the law “regardless of their profile or financial resources”.

Rowling, who lives in Edinburgh, said: “If they go after a woman for simply calling a man a man, I will repeat that woman’s words and they can sue us both at the same time.”

Hours after the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on Monday, Rowling posted photos of ten high-profile transgender people on Monday and ridiculed their claims to be women.

Rowling’s list, which was placed at -personality. She then dared the police to arrest her.

Her supporters had expected trans activists to use the legislation to file police charges against her.

Ms Willoughby said Police Scotland’s announcement was a “joke”, accusing the force of pandering to its author and making a “mockery of the entire hate crime law”.

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Joanna Cherry KC, a senior SNP MP and ally of Rowling, said the author had done a “great service” but warned: “It is a bit early to be sure that the fanatics will ignore aspects of this new law against women, were thwarted.”

She questioned whether Rowling would have a non-criminal hate incident recorded in her name and challenged Police Scotland to come clean about it. The force declined to comment.

There were concerns that the legislation would lead to a flood of vexatious complaints. The Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, told The Telegraph that anecdotal evidence from members suggested ‘many complaints’ had been received in the first 24 hours.

David Kennedy, the general secretary, said: “My feedback is that there are a lot of complaints. It will be a few weeks before we see how this affects reporting mechanisms.”

Humza Yousaf oversaw the passage of hate crime legislation at Holyrood in 2021 when he was justice secretary in Nicola Sturgeon’s government.

However, it only came into effect on Monday as Police Scotland said officers needed time for training.

‘Responses not assessed as criminal’

A person commits an offense under the Act if he communicates material or behaves in a way “that a reasonable person would consider threatening or offensive”, with the intention of inciting hatred on the basis of the protected characteristics.

The legislation extends long-standing crimes of racial abuse to other grounds based on age, disability, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. However, an amendment to add sex to the list of protected characteristics was voted down when the legislation was considered in Holyrood.

There are fears that the definition of a hate crime in the legislation is too ambiguous, potentially leading to a “chilling” effect on freedom of expression.

At the end of the list, Rowling tweeted: “April Fools! Just a joke. It is clear that the people mentioned in the tweets above are not women at all, but men, every single one of them.

She concluded: “I am currently out of the country, but if what I have written here qualifies as an offense under the terms of the new law, I look forward to being arrested if I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment . ”

She used the hashtag #arrestme, but Rishi Sunak and Alister Jack, the Scottish minister, said she should not be criminalized for “stating simple facts about biology”.

In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “We have received complaints in relation to the social media post. The comments are not considered criminal and no further action will be taken.”

Rowling posted on X, formerly Twitter:

But Willoughby tweeted: “JK Rowling deliberately tweeted hateful transphobia – and Police Scotland immediately relented. There was intent behind it. She insulted said individuals for being trans. She did it to hurt, and will do it even more now.

Roddy Dunlop KC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said: “As many of us have said, the bar for prosecution, let alone conviction, is high, and I doubt we will see much of either.

“The problem more likely lies in the fact that the police are inundated with reports, and what is happening in terms of recordings.”

Last week it emerged that a Tory MSP was preparing to take legal action against Police Scotland after his tweet comparing non-binary people to those who identify as cats was recorded as a non-crime hate incident.

Murdo Fraser discovered that the social media post criticizing the Scottish Government’s gender policy in November had been formally recorded as such an incident without his knowledge.

The Mid Scotland and Fife MSP said he had received legal advice which concluded that Police Scotland’s actions were unlawful as it had breached his freedom of expression and data protection rights.

Mr Fraser welcomed Police Scotland’s announcement about Rowling, but added: “Presumably, in line with current policy, which I challenge as unlawful, these complaints will now be recorded as non-crime incidents.”