Shay Sims

Shay Sims, a violent male who identifies as a transgender woman, was convicted in March 2022 at North Staffordshire Magistrates Court of three charges of assault by beating, criminal damage and outraging public decency. Sims, 31, was sentenced to five months in prison, suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay £150 compensation to each of the three victims plus a £128 surcharge.

These offences occurred two months before Sims was sentenced to a two-year community order at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court after admitting offences involving the supply of cannabis and amphetamine.

The court heard that the public decency offence was committed in the centre of Stoke-on-Trent in June 2021 after Sims was seen walking down Percy Street and had reportedly “raised her [sic] dress up and lowered her [sic] pants to reveal a penis and continued to walk 40 feet with the penis exposed.” Members of the public appeared shocked and the offence was observed by CCTV operators.

Prior to the indecent exposure, Sims had been ejected from a pub after refusing to obey COVID-19 regulations that were in place at the time. After refusing the landlord’s request to wear a mask, Sims then proceeded to dance in a reportedly “sexually provocative manner” when customers were supposed to remain seated. While being escorted from the premises by bouncers, Sims threw a glass, and assaulted and spat at the landlord and the two security staff while shouting offensive homophobic abuse at them. The defendant then knocked the pub’s revolving door off its axis after kicking out at it when security staff tried to stop Sims re-entering the pub.

Media coverage referred to Sims as a woman and either obfuscated the indecency offence (referring to ‘genitals’ or the defendant being ‘naked’ rather than specifically to Sims’ penis) or including confusing sentences such as the one above saying Sims “raised her [sic] dress up and lowered her [sic] pants to reveal a penis.” Arguably, ascribing the offence to a woman has the effect of downgrading it in seriousness to the reader – a woman “marching naked” down the street after being kicked out of a pub has less threatening connotations than the same offence committed by a man. See also how trans-identified male rapist Karen White/Stephen Wood’s sexual offending against women in prison was described in media coverage, including reference to ‘her’ penis.

Media reports

Stoke Sentinel https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/stoke-woman-lifts-dress-exposes-6784477 archive

Daily Mirror https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-who-marched-naked-down-26446051 archive

The Daily Record https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/drinker-kicked-out-pub-paraded-26441912 archive