Brighton hammer thief spared jail because transgender

[WomanBornNotWorn]

www.theargus.co.uk/news/18264144.brighton-hammer-thief-spared-prison-trangender/

Hammer thief sentenced to jail then judge immediately changed sentence purely because being transgender is more relevant than threatening a shopkeeper with a clawhammer.

It is time for third space within men's prisons where trans women can be securely and safely held to serve their sentences, and away from vulnerable women prisoners. It must be possible.

Reading the article I'm left with the impression that the judge thought he was sending the violent criminal to a women's prison and was fine with that. It was only when he realised the violent criminal would go to a men's prison that he changed his mind.

Also, I don't see how this comment fits in with the decision-making:

“In light of this information I have come to the conclusion that in your particular case it allows me to hope for some form of rehabilitation.”

Why would the lack of a GRC mean that there's greater hope for rehabilitation? My guess is that the judge thinks getting a GRC would magically remove the tendency to violence because this would transform them into a non-violent woman.

Was this violent crime recorded as having being committed by a woman?

quite literally a get out of jail free card. That’s proper shocking. Can this be appealed - unduly lenient sentence etc?

That is the $64k question, AbsintheFriends, and I suspect the answer is yes. Women's crime stats will go up. I hope the data will be accurately disaggregated so crimes committed by transwomen can be removed for comparison. What violent male criminal wouldn't arrange to have rapid onset gender dysphoria of it keeps them at liberty?

Especially in a climate of liberalising the self-identifying of having gender dysphoria and the growing risk of naysayers being denounced as transphobic.

My guess is that the judge thinks getting a GRC would magically remove the tendency to violence because this would transform them into a non-violent woman.

Maybe he thinks it’s like when teachers award the gold star certificate that week to the most badly behaved boy in the class because he managed to sit still for a whole 5 minutes without being disruptive in the hope that this will improve his behaviour? Meanwhile, the rest of the well-behaved class rightfully thinks it’s unfair.

Appalling. This violent thug needs to be in a male prison.

I’m waiting for the next edition of a very popular board game to have this as their new get out of jail free card.

A certain group certainly seems to have a monopoly of the current situation as it stands

Can this be appealed - unduly lenient sentence etc?

Yes, anyone can do it, even if they are not connected with the case, as long as it is within 28 days of the sentence being passed.

Here's a link that explains.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-casework/unduly-lenient-sentence-scheme/

What?! So now declaring yourself to be a transwoman but without a GRC means you cannot be sent to prison?

What on earth is meant by The only way Le Fey could prove her new gender would be an “undignified examination”, one which court staff were not prepared to do, Ms Upton said.

If Le Fey has been castrated, which is presumably what they meant, then surely there would be medical records to confirm this is the case? Nobody in the court should need to inspect Le Fey's genitals.

See, this is an example of the state failing to take advantage of the many perfectly permissible exceptions to/restrictions on transgender persons‘ rights in order to uphold other important public interests such as the prevention of crime, public order and so on. This ought really to be appealed but query if the local — probably very overworked — prosecutor has the will and the resources to do so.

There needs to be some kind of test case. If this was challenged In a serious court on with proper legal arguments about these conflicting interests it surely could not stand.

Ah, Teds — thanks. I am not a criminal lawyer so I wasn’t sure about standing/leave to appeal. Is it the Centre for Women’s Justice that Harriet Wistrich is involved in? I wonder if they would have an interest.

Has this become a new defence plea? If they don't have a GRC then legally they are male. And at risk in a male prison? They demonstrated that they could handle themself OK.

So many professionals out there, implementing 'the law'. Despite clearly having no idea at all what the law actually is. Particularly concerning in judges, who you'd think would make sure they were crystal clear what the relevant legislation actually states.

Because judges are never wrong are they.

I’d be sending them straight to the male prison. With a hammer.

Bon chance.

The justice system really has been fully captured haven't they? The fact they won't identify what organisations are 'advising' them really is a worry.

So a hammer wielding person can just go on their merry way cause they flaunt a certain charactersitc that gives them a green card? Wonderful

The rights of women prisoners are not even given a mention in passing. Colossal failure to take relevant considerations into account, right there.

The Telegraph have got more detail on this story here:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/27/hammer-wielding-wine-thief-spared-prison-transgender/

The criminal self ID'ed as a woman but didn't have a Gender Recognition Certificate. The judge bizarrely thought there was therefore 'no way to confirm her gender', and therefore couldn't send them to either a men's or women's jail.

This story gets more and more ridiculous.

Given that prison guards routinely carry out quite intimate inspections looking for drugs, I don't quite see why an examination would be "undignified" in this context.

It would imply their identity was being questioned whatsthecomingoverthehill. The worst crime of all.

Fucking hell.

There needs to be a training course for judges. Run by people who understand biology.
Judges are supposed to be intelligent.

^The court heard that Le Fey has two previous convictions for possession of a knife in public and more than 50 previous convictions.

Had Judge Mooney not reversed his decision to send her to prison, Le Fey would have received the mandatory 6 month sentence for possessing a weapon in public following that 2014 conviction.

Judges have the legal power to exercise discretion when handing down custodial sentences for crimes which would usually land a defendant in prison.^

So they couldn't prove if they had a GRC (what no records are kept?). So what if they were vulnerable because of mental health or physical disability issues?

I think the judge needs to reconsider - as he has done before:

^Judge Mooney was appointed to be a Circuit Judge in April 2019. However in his short time in the post, he has already had one of his sentences reviewed and issued an apology following accusations he was too lenient.

The Attorney General reviewed a sentence he gave in October 2019 to two young men who bottled a Korean student in Brighton in October 2017

He gave a teenage boy, Bradley Garrett, a two-year suspended sentence which was challenged by the public for being lenient

In January - he apologised "profusely" for making a mistake and re-sentenced him to a three-year youth rehabilitation order with intensive supervision.^