Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be *livid* at this? Attempted murder of man working to make women's sport fairer

356 replies

Sporadicus · 22/09/2016 16:31

So not only did Jeska use their unfair advantage to win medals meant for female athletes, but Jeska then tries to murder the man attemting to restore fairness to women's fell running:

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/transgender-womens-fell-running-champ-8891893

And yet, the BBC decide it's not relevant to the story that Jeska was born male:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-37439875

OP posts:
LuckySantangelo1 · 22/09/2016 16:39

That is pretty shocking. I'm normally a big supporter of the BBC but that is a woeful decision.

WilLiAmHerschel · 22/09/2016 16:40

Yanbu. I am so pleased The Mirror reported the full story or we'd be none the wiser.

As Jeska is residing in a women's prison I imagine the crime has been recorded as being committed by a female.

BillSykesDog · 22/09/2016 16:41

In a women's prison I see. Lucky women with a violent offender with a much more powerful physicality than them banged up with them.

WilLiAmHerschel · 22/09/2016 16:42

The BBC did the same with Claire Derbyshire, also male.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35591079

Sporadicus · 22/09/2016 16:42

Yep women's prison, and the irresponsible reporting of his autism diagnosis.

Last time I checked autistic people and women don't generally go around stabbing colleagues with kitchen knives for investigating their cheating.

OP posts:
myownprivateidaho · 22/09/2016 16:43

Eh? In what sense is it relevant to the story?

britbat23 · 22/09/2016 16:43

Ah, the trans obsession continues. Is there some part of the country currently overrun with trans people causing endless problems?

Or is this more like that phenomenon where UKIP gets the most votes where there are hardly any immigrants?

ErrolTheDragon · 22/09/2016 16:43

Gobsmacked... the fact that Jeska is transgender appears to be central to the motivation for the attack. Why would the BBC completely omit this?

Sporadicus · 22/09/2016 16:44

Jesus William when that was first reported they at least mentioned he was male, now it's been retrospectively transwashed?

OP posts:
Sporadicus · 22/09/2016 16:45

myown the victim, Ralph Knibbs, was investigating whether Jeska had an unfair advantage over women fell runners

OP posts:
Lunar1 · 22/09/2016 16:46

Im surprised the bbc reported on it at all. How can they take precious news time away from the breaking news that Mary has quit bake off!

Twunk · 22/09/2016 16:47

It's a huge issue affecting women right now. Not interested? Fine - hide the thread and move on.

Are you being obtuse Idaho? - it's central to the motive.

FreshwaterSelkie · 22/09/2016 16:48

myown, the man who Lauren attempted to murder worked for UK athletics. It appears that an enquiry was being launched (had been launched?) into Lauren's eligibility to compete and that this is what set off the attack.

myownprivateidaho · 22/09/2016 16:48

Surely it's the fact of the investigation that's relevant then?

Whisperingloudly · 22/09/2016 16:53

But quite difficult to reference the what without the why

The BCC report makes this look like a motiveless crime by someone who is mentally ill, not a premeditated attempt on the life of someone in the course of their employment. Shocking and totally undermining to the victims

LittlePaintBox · 22/09/2016 16:55

The BBC has edited out a salient fact from a news story for some reason. YANBU to notice this and ask why.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 22/09/2016 16:57

The Independent don't mention it either.

FreshwaterSelkie · 22/09/2016 16:57

For me, there are two elements of note. One is that when transwomen's crimes are reported as women's crimes, it is a very real concern that statistics on women's crimes are being distorted. Research suggests that transwomen retain a male pattern of criminality, commiting more crimes, particularly violent crimes, than women.

Will it be statistically significant? The real answer is that we simply don't know, because the information isn't being recorded. And it should be.

The second aspect is the impact on women's sports. Jeska was the Women’s 2010, 2011 and 2012 English Fell Running Champion and won the British Championship in 2012. They went through a male puberty, have a male VO2 max, a male pelvis, male running economy, male stride length and male lactate threshold. These things matter, and are not, can never be impacted by transition or hormones. This is having an impact on women's sports right now, and that concerns me.

CoteDAzur · 22/09/2016 16:58

YANBU.

This story shows, as we had talked about many times before:

  • Transwomen athletes with higher testosterone and other physical advantages pushing women off the podium
  • Transwomen retaining male patterns of violence
myownprivateidaho · 22/09/2016 16:58

I'd also note that she has entered a guilty plea. So the only thing that happened at the hearing will be that the charges were read, and she entered her plea. There will be another hearing for sentencing. At that time, if the crown wants it can lead evidence about the motives for the attack, and obviously the defendant can also do so. The court will consider aggravating and mitigating factors etc. So while it may come out that the tg status is relevant, I would presume that the BBC has a strict reporting policy when it comes to trials and isn't going to second guess the court's decision. Whereas the Mirror isn't going to miss an opportunity for clickbait. So I think that I'd save your ire. On this occasion, this isn't pc gorn mad, it's just a responsible journalist avoiding contempt of court.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 22/09/2016 16:58

Or the Guardian.

FreshwaterSelkie · 22/09/2016 17:00

And, sorry, there's a third. It absolutely chills me that the newspapers would rather report this as a random and motiveless attack, (query because Lauren is autistic?) than report on what appears to be the motive.

Is it right to misreport what happened to those victims to try to avoid any awkward questions over Lauren's gender? Is that the sort of reporting that people want to see?

myownprivateidaho · 22/09/2016 17:02

But the point is that in this country, there is a legal process. We don't decide on what the motive for a crime was, we let the court decide.

ToastDemon · 22/09/2016 17:02

If the press use autism as the cause/motive for the attack that'll be a new low for throwing a vulnerable group under the bus for the sake of an agenda.

JellyBelli · 22/09/2016 17:02

Am I in an alternative reality?