FILMING someone in distress without seeking help could fall under Scotland's new psychological domestic abuse law, cops have revealed.

It comes after we revealed a sadistic new trend for 'distress porn' - filming a vulnerable person at breaking point before seeking revenge with the footage.

In a special report yesterday, we told how a young woman was filmed by her ex-boyfriend while attempting to self-harm.

He did not call for help and was later reported to cops after sharing the sickening video on Whatsapp in a bid to humiliate her.

Detective Superintendent Gordon McCreadie, of Police Scotland's national lead for Domestic Abuse, said sharing distressing footage could form part of the new psychological abuse law in Scotland.

READ MORE: Distress porn trend receives calls for law change to help protect vulnerable victims

The new law - which covers mental torture and coercive control - came into place on April 1 this year.

Det Supt McCreadie said: "I would question the motivation of anyone who records and shares, or threatens to share, an image of their partner or ex-partner in distress.

"Any reasonable person would offer support, comfort or assistance and I would strongly suggest that such threats are likely to form part of a far deeper pattern of abusive behaviours which are now a criminal offence in Scotland.

"Coercive and controlling behaviours can have the most profound, damaging and long lasting effects on individuals and on our society and the new Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act makes it illegal.

"This legislation will allow us to investigate and report these types of behaviours, alongside other abuse including physical or sexual abuse and report the full circumstances to the courts."

He warned: "Those who conduct themselves in this way should recognise we now have the powers to tackle this and it will be taken extremely seriously."

Earlier this year the daughter of Scots Taggart actor John Michie was killed at a festival by drugs supplied by her boyfriend.

READ MORE: Ex-SNP councillor Glenn Elder accused of 'inappropriate conduct'

But in another chilling twist, the court also heard how tragic Louella Fletcher-Michie, 24, was filmed by her boyfriend Ceon Broughton as she wailed in distress.

The 29-year-old rapper filmed himself smiling as she lay dying in front of him.

Jurors watched a 50-minute video of Louella Fletcher-Michie hours before her death in September 2017.

Last month Broughton was jailed for eight-and-a-half years for manslaughter.

Yesterday, domestic abuse and mental health campaigners demanded cops take action after we learned of the disturbing new trend.

Bosses at mental health charity See Me Scotland said the incident was a horrific form of discrimination.

Calum Irving, See Me director, said: “Filming someone when they are in distress, at risk of self-harm, struggling with their mental health or feeling suicidal, is a particularly horrible form of discrimination.

“If someone is in distress they deserve to get help and support, and be treated with compassion, not humiliated. "No one should ever be made to feel ashamed, embarrassed when they are experiencing mental health problems."

It comes as a number of victims have been filmed either suicidal or in distress by their ex partners as part of "despicable" humiliation tactic, similar to revenge porn.

In December last year. a Utah teenager who helped a girl kill herself then filmed it was jailed for five years.

Twisted Tyerell Pryzbycien, 19, helped Jchandra Brown, 16, take her own life in May 2017 by buying her the rope she used to hang herself, driving her to the remote part of Spanish Fork, Utah, where she did it, tying the noose for her and filming her as placed it around her neck and killed herself.

After she took her last breath, he continued filming and then placed the cell phone which contained the footage at her feet, saying: 'I guess I'll leave this here'. She was found the next day by a turkey hunter.

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Although civil lawyers will find it tough to sue perpetrators for defamation, solicitor Ian Moir believes they could be made punishable in criminal courts.

The Glasgow based lawyer said: “Incidents like this are fairly uncommon but I suspect that it will become more common in the same way that more people have had confidence coming forward in relation to historic sexual abuse and so on.

“This is not something we expect to come across all the time or very much at all really.

“It’s also going to take a bit of time for everyone to get a handle on exactly how the new psychological abuse law will work.

“There will be difficult trials in the sense of difficult and distressing evidence for a start.

“If there’s a video there which shows them being horrible to them when they’re clearly distressed then that might be easier for them to get a handle on this.

“This is an extreme example so it shouldn’t be that difficult to prove and you would expect a prosecutor to be able to get a conviction.

“They say it’s not a crime to watch a time take place but standing and watching your partner self harm and filming it rather than helping them abounds to the sort of conduct that amounts to the psychological abuse that’s being targeted.

“It’s completely unchartered water.”