The SNP’s controversial hate crime law has led to only 43 convictions so far – despite more than 10,000 complaints being made in under two months.
Scotland’s police chief Jo Farrell said it had been ‘hijacked to make mischief’ – when a flood of allegations were made after it began to be enforced on April 1.
New figures reveal there have been just 43 convictions under the Hate Crime Act – with many cases still being looked at – and a total of 950 charges.
Scottish Tory deputy justice spokesman Sharon Dowey said: ‘The public will be dismayed at the resources being wasted on a law which risks free speech.’
According to Police Scotland statistics up to May 19, when the force stopped publishing weekly data, there were 10,029 reports from the public of alleged hate crime, and of those only 1,537 were recorded as hate crimes.
