A PENSIONER has told how she was carted off by cops after being wrongly accused of a hate crime.
Mild mannered Morag McDougall Brown, 74, says she has endured two years of abuse from a nightmare neighbour.
It’s seen her allegedly called various names and have her garden trashed – with a total of 42 complaints made against the culprit by Morag and others.
But it was the OAP who was lifted by police after the 38-year-old female accused her of using an ableist slur.
Morag, of Troon, said: “They said Morag you need to accompany us to the police station. I said ‘What for?’. They could only tell me there had been an allegation.
“When I asked why I was being taken to a station they said it was the new bill that had come out on April 1.
“I was searched, my jewellery was taken off, my phone turned off, my bag was emptied into plastic bags. I felt like a criminal.
“They told me that I’d called her a ‘simple m***o’.
“That’s not even a name I would call anyone.
“They said there was no charge or criminal record and let me go.”
Morag – who has never been in trouble with the police before – told how she’s been left traumatised.
She said: “It was just a nightmare. Every time I think about it I’m shaking, it’s affected me so deeply.
“These new laws are terrible. If this can happen to someone like me a 74-year-old pensioner.”
Police Scotland said: “A 74-year-old woman was arrested on Tuesday, 9 April, 2024 in connection with a report of verbal abuse in the Harbour Road area of Troon on Monday, 8 April, 2024.
“She was released without charge.”
Officers confirmed there was a “hate crime element” to the callout but said the arrest was made under pre-existing laws which deal with threatening and abusive behaviour.
Scottish Conservative deputy justice spokesperson Sharon Dowey MSP said: “This poor woman’s experience is deeply concerning and would have understandably left her feeling traumatised.
“Humza Yousaf’s dangerousHate Crime Act is open to exploitation by individuals looking to settle scores, and this can lead to innocent people being targeted and, in some cases, carted off in police vans.
“This law is proving to be a disaster and should be scrapped.”
The Hate Crime and Public Order Act, which fully kicked in from April 1, dramatically widened the offence of “stirring up hatred”.
This previously only applied only to race, but now covers the “protected characteristics” of disability, age, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and “variations in sex characteristics”.
The new law also adds age to a list of “aggravators” where there people can get a tougher sentence if a crime is motivated by prejudice. This already included a list of protected characteristics including disability.
There has been criticism after Police Scotland pledged to “investigate every report” made about hate crime, despite a scheme being rolled out nationally that will see police not fully investigate many low-level crimes.