Michelle Winter

Michelle Winter, a violent male who identifies as a trans woman, was convicted at Cambridge Crown Court on 15 January 2021, of rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Winter, 49, was jailed for 15 years.

At sentencing, the judge described Winter as a dangerous individual, with a “clear propensity to violence”. The female victim told officers she still had nightmares about the attack and had since woken up screaming “get off me” and police officers noted that she was covered in bruises when she reported the attack the next day. Media reports indicate that Winter perpetrated the rape at his home address in May 2020, i.e. not long after start of the first COVID-19 lockdown.

In contrast to recent reporting trends in other newspapers where violent male offenders who identify as transgender are written up as e.g. “Woman convicted of rape/sexual assault”, local newspapers covering the conviction referred to Winter as “a transgender individual who identifies as a female but has not undergone surgery” and headlines accurately referred to Winter as a rapist rather than as a woman.

Photo via Cambs Police/Cambs Times

Media reports

Cambridge Independent https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/cambridgeshire-rapist-jailed-for-15-years-after-attack-that-left-victim-with-recurring-nightmares-9148559/ archive

The Hunts Post https://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/crime/godmanchester-rapist-is-jailed-6909364 archive

Cambs Times https://www.cambstimes.co.uk/news/crime/transgender-rapist-jailed-6910204 archive