Kyle Lockwood / Kayleigh-Louise Woods
Kyle Lockwood/ Kayleigh-Louise Woods, a violent male who identifies as a trans woman, was jailed for life at Warwick Crown Court in 2017 for the torture and brutal murder of 20-year old flatmate Bethany Hill. Woods, 23, and accomplice Jack Williams were told they would be imprisoned for at least 26 years. Miss Hill was a former girlfriend of Williams and newspaper reports describe the relationship between Miss Hill and Woods as ‘volatile’ – the usual media euphemism for men who bully and abuse women.
Ms Hill was found with her hands bound with tape and multiple stab wounds to her neck and the prosecution presented evidence that Woods and Williams had planned and carried out the ‘sadistic’ killing for their ‘perverted pleasure’. A Barbie doll owned by Woods with hair dyed a similar colour to the victim and hands bound with tape was found hidden at the defendant’s grandmother’s house.
Woods lied to the police concerning the circumstances of finding Ms Hill’s body and tried to blame Williams for the murder. The prosecution alleged that although Woods appeared to be distressed during the emergency call it was “play-acting”, and told the jury they “will learn during the course of this case that she is a good play-actor and a prolific and practised liar.”
Image of Woods’ Barbie doll
Photo: SWNS viaDaily Mail
In a statement issued through the police, Ms Hill’s family said: ‘We wish we could put into words how these two evil individuals have caused us to feel. The heartbreak of knowing that we will never see our beautiful Beth again, that they have denied her the chance to see her nieces and nephews grow up and taken her from us in such a brutal, cruel way, is unbearable.’
After the case, Detective Inspector Neal Candelent, from Warwickshire Police, said: ‘Bethany’s murder was a cold-blooded killing of an entirely innocent young woman in the prime of her life, for which Woods and Williams have shown no remorse.’
As Woods was listed as ‘male’ on court documentation (yet referred to with female pronouns on the same court documents and as Williams’ ‘girlfriend’ in BBC coverage), this horrific murder should be counted among male murder statistics rather than female, unlike the murder committed by Claire Darbyshire in 2016 or the attempted murder committed by Lauren Jeska which will both likely have been added to female crime statistics. It is unknown whether Woods will serve their prison sentence in a male or female jail.
Screengrab via thelawpages.com
Photo of Woods/Lockwood via Warks. Police
*Update June 2019*
The Sun reported that shortly after arriving at HMP Hewell (a local, mixed category male prison), Woods requested a transfer to requested to HMP Eastwood Park, a female prison. Despite the grotesque levels of violence Woods inflicted on Ms Hill and not possessing a Gender Recognition Certificate nor having had any surgery, the transfer was granted by the Transgender Case Board who perversely decided Woods’ posed little risk to female inmates due to a lack of any convictions for sex offences.
However, within weeks, Woods was found to have started a sexual relationship with female inmate and was swiftly transferred back to a men’s prison, HMP Gartree, a category B prison in Leicestershire.
Media reports claim HMP Eastwood Park’s governor ‘went up the wall’ when told about the incident.
A Prison Service spokesman told The Sun: “The safety of all our prisoners is an absolute priority.
“While we work to manage all prisoners, including those who are transgender, sensitively and in line with the law, we can and will take action where their behaviour provides cause for concern.” Presumably though, the behaviour that preceded conviction, such as raping and murdering women, doesn’t “cause concern”.
See other violent male trangender offenders without GRCs – Paris Green and Karen White – who similarly had to be transferred back to male prisons after posing a severe risk to female offenders’ safety, and Jessica Winfield/Martin Ponting a double rapist who had to be segregated from female inmates at HMP Bronzefield.
Media reports
The Sun https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9206136/trans-killer-romping-female-switch-womens-jail/
Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7097351/Trans-murderer-23-moved-male-jail-romping-naked-female-inmate.html archive
Mirror https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/transgender-prisoner-sent-back-mens-16245439
BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-38748599 archive
Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4156440/Transgender-woman-boyfriend-murdered-flatmate.html archive
The Sun https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2704661/please-couple-tied-up-killed-flatmate-knife-attack-stratford/