Andy / Wendy Jones

Andy/Wendy Jones, a male who identifies as a trans woman, was convicted of possessing extreme (animal) pornography at Liverpool Crown Court in July 2017.

Jones was originally reported to the police for possession of a video showing an adult man raping a female child, but by the time the police seized Jones’ laptop, the video could not be located, although ‘evidence of internet search terms appertaining to children’ were found which were ‘a matter of some concern to the court.’

Jones was given a 60-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed.

Wendy Jones
Photo via Liverpool Echo

Jones, 54,  amassed the collection of videos depicting sexual activity with animals over a period of four years; those including horses were highlighted because of “the likelihood of serious injury to the individual [women] concerned.”

Presumably alluding to Jones’ various ailments and gender identity issues, the judge told Jones that “you must tackle your drinking or risk coming back to court and being jailed” which “could be of even greater consequence to you than other many other people.”

Luckily, the shoulder injury that was mentioned in court as causing the defendant to have “difficulty dressing and undressing at the moment” didn’t prevent Jones from triumphantly punching the air outside court after the hearing.

Screengrab from Daily Mirror

All media coverage referred to Jones as a woman rather than a male who identifies as a transgender woman, despite the fact that the vast majority (95%) of people convicted of possession of extreme pornography are male. When challenged over reporting a male person’s crime as being committed by a woman, the Liverpool Echo court reporter confirmed they were obliged to respect the pronouns/gender identity of the offender. Similarly, when Somerset Live were challenged on reporting serious sex offences against children perpetrated by Kira Leverton (a male who identifies as a trans woman) as being committed by a woman, their response was that their “story records how the magistrates court dealt with the case – it accepted that this person was a woman at the time of the hearing.” However, in November 2017 when reporting on a female offender who identifies as a man (see Jay Ferguson), the Liverpool Echo chose to refer to the defendant in the article as a woman and used female pronouns throughout.  So, one rule for using pronouns demanded by male defendants and quite another for female defendants (i.e. completely ignoring them), it appears. 

The Liverpool Echo ran a story in October 2017 based on a Freedom of Information request noting the rise in convictions for possession of extreme pornography involving animals after discovering that 93% of people (162 of the 174 people charged) in Merseyside had such images. Farcically, the  article also notes that all of those convicted were male – apart from Wendy Jones.

Photo credit: Liverpool Echo

Media reports

Liverpool Echo http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/woman-caught-extreme-animal-porn-13399570  archive

Liverpool Echo https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/animal-pornography-offences-increase-around-13733167 archive

Metro http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/28/woman-caught-with-extreme-animal-porn-collection-celebrates-after-avoiding-jail-6814335

Daily Mirror http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-whoops-joy-after-walking-10889610

Archive tweet from Liverpool Echo confirming they respect the pronouns demanded by male defendants http://archive.is/Cdiyj