Jesse Hawthorne

Jesse Hawthorne, a violent female who identifies as a transgender man, was convicted in 2015 at Newport Magistrates’ Court of image-based sexual abuse (so-called ‘revenge porn’) after posting intimate photographs of an ex-girlfriend on Facebook, with the intention of causing distress. Hawthorne was then later convicted of wounding with intent in 2018 after perpetrating a vicious assault on an ex-girlfriend’s new partner, and jailed for two years and five months. The defence offered an inappropriate level of testosterone being prescribed as the reason for Hawthorne’s appalling violence.

Following conviction for the image-based sexual abuse charge, Hawthorne, then aged 23, received a suspended 16 week prison sentence in October 2015 and was made the subject of a two year restraining order banning contact with the victim, including on social media. Media coverage suggests the couple broke up because the girlfriend was unhappy about Hawthorne’s plan to have gender reassignment surgery – and appeared to blame her for the sexual abuse inflicted on her because she allegedly made fun of the plan. The victim said she felt “upset, distressed, alarmed, humiliated and abused” after Hawthorne posted the images.

In 2017, (i.e. shortly after the restraining order had expired) Hawthorne saw the new partner of an ex-girlfriend in the bedroom of her home and threw two cans of lager which smashed the glass. When the woman’s partner came to the door, Hawthorne threw a brick which hit him in the face. In the man’s victim impact statement he told the court he left the armed forces seven years ago having served in Bosnia, and the attack had triggered his post traumatic disorder syndrome. Hawthorne appeared at Cardiff Crown Court via video link from female prison HMP Eastwood Park. While the judge acknowledged the defendant had experienced “difficulties” relating to gender and alcohol-related issues, she said it could not excuse the “serious assault” when jailing Hawthorne in June 2018 and issuing further restraining orders.

*Update 2023*

In September 2022, Hawthorne was convicted of criminal damage and a public disorder offence perpetrated in a pub in Caerphilly, south Wales. Hawthorne had entered the seating area and exposed a prosthetic penis and then placed it in a customer’s drink. On being asked to leave, Hawthorne flew into a drink-fuelled rage and threw a glass bottle which completely smashed the screen of a gaming machine in the pub. At sentencing in January 2023, Hawthorne was fined £120 for causing criminal damage and £80 for the public order offence and was also given a 12 month community order for another undisclosed offence. Newport Magistrates’ Court also imposed fines including paying the pub £400 compensation, £85 towards prosecution costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Photo via BBC/Wales News Service Ltd