Article on Maria Maclachlan Court case

@Melamin common assault is a summary only offence - it can only be tried in the magistrates court.

@nauticant I found crime just didn't pay

Very happy for Maria and relieved to see that pre-emptive violence is not yet accepted by the court. Got to applaud Maria for her bravery in seeing this through, it can't have been easy.

Just wondering

If I swear an oath to tell the truth
And the judge orders me to refer to a trans identified male as female even though he still is legally male
If I ask the judge very politely if he really is

ordering me to lie under oath

Is that contempt of court?
And
Can the judge force me to lie under oath?

(I think if the perp has a GRC it's possible I would comply but I might still ask)

During cross examination of the victim Tara Wolf’s defence barrister (who I think herself reached peak Trans at about 11am this morning) said, “TERF believe Gender is a biological construct”, at which we all chortled 😂🤣
“Social construct”, Maria corrected.

I know I shouldn't laugh but....

I'm pleased to see PosyFossilsShoes that you have stopped doing crime several years ago. Since you were in the Magistrate's Court regularly, it's great to see how well you've turned your life around.

I looked up Oppositional Defiant Disorder in disbelief and it appears to be a disorder which can affect young children and teenagers. I thought the defendant here was late 20s?

I was reading that they like to keep the sentencing down of would -be political martyrs and keep them out of the crown court where they publicity wider and sentencing is higher.

Shame he did not get community order - would have done him good, but I suppose that is also a platform for political posturing.

Fine is easier.

I have mixed feelings.

Very happy that the right verdict has been reached - the video evidence from multiple angles was pretty damning.

Uncertain about the fine, particularly as the ‘of no fixed abode’ perp will probably find a way to weasel out of paying it.

Unhappy at this as a piece of bad press for autistic people and people with Oppositional Defiant Disorder in particular.

A £400 fine for a defendant with no fixed abode and additional needs is quite a lot when you look at the sentencing guidelines.

Common assault of this type generally gets a Band A fine, which is half of "relevant weekly income" - for someone with no income that is understood to be £110, or was last time I did any crime, admittedly that was several years ago. So the going rate for a common assault when I was last in the magistrates court regularly was usually £55 plus £55 contribution to costs.

Thank you for the update and twitter pointers.

One silver lining of the modest sentence is that it should dampen down the story of the tragic transwoman martyr and how she was treated so cruelly by the judicial system.

The positive is that whenever there's any talk of violence via pronoun it is now quite straightforward to link to a video showing actual violence over the trans issue and what abusers look like and what victims look like. (Obviously the wilfully blind will still be free to shout "I see nothing!")

On the pronouns thing....

[[https://twitter.com/mayday4women/status/984808008260685825 Now it’s over we can disclose events from inside court.
By end of yesterday the judge stopped asking witnesses to refer to Tara as ‘she’ as no bugger could remember consistently 🤣]]

Very pleased to hear the verdict, well done Maria.

Courts themselves are falling for the "preferred pronoun" power trip by the accused.

Yeah, I'm glad it is a guilty verdict. I'm hoping Maria can put it behind her a bit.

Awful thing to happen to her. I know she has been on here.

for Maria.

Focus on the guilty verdict rather than the insulting (non) fine.

This is a prominent trans activist battering a woman and they say we commit "actual violence" I mean it's all turning on it's head isn't it.

I wonder if the press will pick up on this one. I'll be watching for that.

Really pleased justice was done.

Shocked that females are obliged to refer to their male attackers by female pronouns. It illustrates the problem perfectly.

I like this comment:

twitter.com/mayday4women/status/984806035893489666

Oppositional Defiant Disorder FFS? So someone has trouble with 'authority figures' & gets brownie points for it? Jesus. Is there no end to this crap?

It has happened where a young woman (girl?) was told to refer to her rapist as she. Disgusting. RIDICULOUS.

Agree, mimpi, but Tara was found guilty. We need to focus on that - imagine how we’d all have felt if they’d returned a not guilty verdict.

I feel like sending Maria some flowers - bet she’s so relieved it’s over.

Is it wrong to feel jubilant? All that rabble rousing from Tara's supporters, ridiculous. They look ridiculous. They are ridiculous. I know they are reading. Helen is reading. RIDICULOUS!

I feel better now.

Sorry but a £400 fine is insulting. They would have got more if they'd punched a dog.

twitter.com/mayday4women/status/984801106919350272

"Judge took into account Tara’s autism and Oppositional Defiant Disorder as mitigating factors."

Well, that's part of the crowdfunder for surgery compromised.

Guilty £400 fine

So she is compelled to lie in court. Great.

Can already see where this trial is going.

And yes, genderidentitywatch is not about outing random trans people. But the lies keep coming of course.