Tamara Williams

Tamara Williams, a male who identifies as a trans woman, was convicted of handling stolen goods, theft and five counts of burglary. Williams was sentenced to two years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court in January 2020 and will be subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order on release.

The defence had appealed to Judge Robert Warnock for a suspended sentence because having self-identified as a trans woman by merely changing their first name (and presumably not obtaining a gender recognition certificate or GRC), this – unsurprisingly – meant Williams was to be sent to a male prison.

In addition to stealing items from Tesco and being in possession of several stolen mobile phones, Williams, 37, broke into supported accommodation for vulnerable & older people to carry out a”campaign of burglaries” in a one-night crime spree. When caught by one victim in their doorway, Williams pretended to be from a support agency, asking if they were expecting home help. Another victim caught Williams sitting on his bed with his most treasured possessions, including his father’s war medal.

Judge Warnock said: “Your drug dependency led you to have no appreciation of the rights or dignity of others.”

He called Williams’ crime a “domestic campaign of burglary” on “relatively elderly and vulnerable people.”

Photo credit: Merseyside Police

Media reports

Liverpool Echo https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/transgender-woman-sent-mens-prison-17565009 archive

ITV https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2020-01-14/transgender-woman-from-merseyside-to-be-sent-to-men-s-prison/ archive

Daily Mirror https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/transgender-woman-sent-mens-prison-21281372 archive