Didn't see this one coming.

Under the new legislation, anyone deemed to have been verbally 'abusive', in person or online, to a transgender person, including "insulting" them could be hit with a prison sentence of up to seven years.

That instantly led to a flood of bad faith reports, including from conservatives making a mockery of the system and from deranged left-wing activists trying to punish their ideological adversaries.

David Threadgold, Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, said that the new legislation was being exploited to pursue personal and political vendettas.

"Police Scotland have gone public and said that on every occasion, reports of hate crime will be investigated," Mr. Threadgold told the BBC. "That creates a situation where we simply cannot cope at the moment."

"When you have vexatious complaints, people who look to weaponise this legislation or who make these complaints for personal gain or political point scoring, then that creates a problem for the police which can affect public satisfaction in my organisation," he added.

As we previously highlighted, Police Scotland admitted that the new law could create "additional demand" and create a "resource implication" for police.

This followed a trial of a separate program set to be implemented across the country to stop investigating crimes like theft and criminal damage, which authorities acknowledge will help criminals.

As we reported yesterday, out of the more than 8000 reports police have received under the new 'hate crime' law, less than one per cent are leading to investigations.