Raphael de Sousa
Raphael de Sousa, a violent male who identifies as a transgender woman, was convicted at Glasgow Sheriff Court in February 2023 of assault to the victim’s severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
De Sousa, 40, was described as appearing from custody wearing an ‘oversized Snoopy shirt’ and was remanded to prison to await pre-sentencing reports. Though described as a first offender, this assault apparently occurred some time ago in December 2016, and as de Sousa cannot have been held in custody since then for this offence, there must have been some other reason for the remand before trial, such as anticipated non-attendance at court.
The prosecution told the court that as a group emerged onto Glassford Street at 4am, an argument broke out which was captured on CCTV revealing that “De Sousa took a bottle from a bin there and there was a short chase of [the victim] Mr Faulds. She [sic] struck him on the face with the broken glass bottle she [sic] had taken from the bin.” The teenaged victim needed five stitches to his head wound and will be permanently scarred. De Sousa was restrained by a member of the public until police arrived, and after being cautioned and charged De Sousa said: “Everything was wrong, he assaulted me.”
Sentencing will be in April 2023 and de Sousa, who was born in Brazil, is apparently to return to Italy on release from prison.
*Update March 2023*
De Sousa was jailed for 14 months at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 21March 2023. The Sheriff remarked that given the severity of Mr Faulds injury and that he was was permanently disfigured, there was “no alternative to a custodial sentence”.
Media reports
Glasgow Times (via Yahoo News) https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/transgender-woman-scarred-teen-bottle-140816691.html archive
Glasgow Times https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/scottish-news/23355848.transgender-woman-scarred-teen-striking-head-bottle/ archive
Daily Express https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/transgender-woman-admits-scarring-teenager-29343829 archive
Planet Radio https://planetradio.co.uk/clyde/local/news/transgender-woman-assaulted-teen-with-broken-bottle/ archive