Gender injustice

Detective Superintendent Jon Capp speaking to media outside Oxford Crown Court

Scarlet Blake, who has been jailed for life for murdering a stranger, was tried as a woman and yet has been incarcerated in a man’s prison. During the case, Blake was referred to as “she” even though there was no evidence of any gender reassignment.

The BBC’s main news bulletin referred to Blake as a “woman” in its report and used the pronoun “she”, as did Sky and many newspapers. Why was Blake allowed to present in the court as a woman without any of the legal documents required for gender reassignment, let alone having undergone any physical and surgical transformation?

The jury might have been more sympathetic to a woman than a man, though it did not sway their verdict in the event. Indeed, the judge said it was “part of an elaborate attempt to rationalise what you had done and shift responsibility to others”.

While those who genuinely struggle with their identity deserve sympathy and support, it is absurd that anyone can simply claim to be a woman, in a court of all places.

Blake spoke of how coming out to relatives at the age of 12 led to an “emotional rift” within the family and mental-health issues which the judge said were spurious. The fact Blake was trans “on its own has no particular relevance to the case”, he said. “It doesn’t make it any more or less likely that she is guilty of the offence with which she is charged.” But referring to the killer as “she” might have been a factor that weighed in a juror’s mind.

Defendants should be required to present the same gender recognition documents that would be needed to obtain a passport or be tried on the basis of their sex at birth. As J K Rowling observed, “words matter”.

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