Mother Arrested in front of her children After Calling A Man Dressed as a Woman a" Man"

Kate Scottow, the unlucky person who called a Man a "man"

A mother was arrested in front of her children and locked up for seven hours after referring to a transgender woman as a man online.

Three Hertfordshire Police officers detained Kate Scottow at her home before quizzing her at a police station about an argument with an activist on Twitter.

Mrs Scottow is accused of a 'campaign of targeted harassment' against transgender activist "Stephanie" Hayden and has been made the subject of an injunction that bans her from writing about Hayden online. 

A complaint from Mr/Mrs Hayden was previously behind a police verbal harassment warning given to Father Ted writer Graham Linehan following a Twitter spat. He also campaigned against Sussex University over perceived 'transgender hostility' and was among those who pressured a billboard company to remove a poster in Liverpool, which said the dictionary definition of 'woman' was an 'adult human female'.

 The investigation in Mrs Scottow is an 'abuse of manpower and police facilities' at a time when violent crime is on the rise.

People ask 'Is this really the right way to fight crime? Is this what our brave police officers signed up to do? 

'Are you really telling me that it is a sensible ordering of priorities to round up Twitter-borne transphobes and chuck them in the clink, when violence on the streets would seem to be getting out of control?'

Mr. Haydon Dressing as a Lady

Mrs Scottow, from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, had her photograph, DNA and fingerprints taken and remains under investigation.

More than two months after her arrest on December 1, she has had neither her mobile phone or laptop returned, which she says is hampering her studies for a Masters in forensic psychology.

Writing on online forum Mumsnet, Mrs Scottow – who has also been served with a court order that bans her from referring to her accuser as a man – claimed: 'I was arrested in my home by three officers, with my autistic ten-year-old daughter and breastfed 20-month-old son present. 

'I was then detained for seven hours in a cell with no sanitary products (which I said I needed) before being interviewed then later released under investigation ... I was arrested for harassment and malicious communications because I called someone out and misgendered them on Twitter.'

Confirming the arrest, Hertfordshire Police said: 'We take all reports of malicious communication seriously.'

The case is the latest where police have been accused of being heavy-handed in dealing with people who go online to debate gender issues.