• 7 years ago
• Posted in:Murder/ Manslaughter, Violent Offences
• 0
• Author: melodie
• Tags: 10+ years imprisonment, 15+ years imprisonment, 20+ years imprisonment, Adam Bonser, Aged 20-29, Convicted 2012, Doncaster, England, Female prison, Female victim, Hannah Bonser, HMP Low Newton, HMP New Hall, Law enforcement victim, Life sentence, Looked after child, Mental health, Mormon, Offended 2012, Personality disorder, Police/monitoring/safeguarding failure, Prison transition, Religion, Schizophrenia, Sectioned, Self-harm, South Yorkshire Police, Substance misuse, Trans man, Yorkshire

Hannah / Adam Bonser, a female who reportedly identifies as a trans man, was convicted in 2012 of the murder of 13 year old Casey Kearney. Bonser was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 22 years.

A former prison officer told the media in December 2017 that Bonser had discussed having gender reassignment surgery and was insisting that officers use the term “ladies and gentlemen” when addressing prisoners.

Bonser, 26, had a long history of mental health problems, had been sectioned three times and diagnosed with personality disorders; one psychiatrist had diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia. However, the court rejected Bonser’s claim of being guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.

Bonser had been discharged from a mental health unit just four months before the killing in February 2012 and the month before the fatal attack was given crisis accommodation. Bonser was then discharged by the home treatment team on 30 January, but there was apparently “no convincing evidence” that the defendant’s mental state had improved by then.

Following conviction Bonser was moved to the hospital wing of HMP New Hall after reportedly assaulting a female prison guard and self harming.

An independent review into the care Bonser received found the defendant was “almost invisible” to some services and was not “listened to” as a child or adult. The review said a “major mistake” was made by children’s services when several people, including Bonser’s GP, notified them that they suspected she was being neglected by her parents when she was eight years old. There was no child protection investigation, but Bonser was put into care when she was 13 and had six different foster care placements and nine social workers before she became homeless at 16. The review said at this stage she was “drinking, self-harming and using cannabis”

The author of the report made 21 recommendations for the NHS, children’s services in Doncaster and other organisations.

Photo credit: PA via Daily Mail

Media reports

Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5164483/Child-killer-living-man-women-jail.html  archive

The Sun https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5108053/hannah-bonser-casey-kearney-murder-living-man-woman-jail/

Daily Star https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/270179/Park-killer-cell-frenzy

BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-20510173 archive

The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jul/11/casey-kearney-murder-hannah-bonser archive