Several trans and cis women just walked out of a courthouse without any jail time after they were arrested for beating a man who called them racial slurs and made anti-transgender comments near a subway station.
Transgender women Tamzin Lush, 29, Tylah-Jo Bryan, 24, and Amarnih Lewis-Daniel, 24, and cisgender woman Hannah Bryan, 24, were accused of beating and kicking a man referred to in court only as Al Shaheeb, 19, after he called Bryan a “black c**t,” according to court documents.
Related: Two trans women beat the snot out of men harassing them in a restaurant
The alleged attack occurred on June 24, 2018 at around 2 a.m. outside the Leicester Square station in London. The conflict started, according to prosecutor Jacinta Stringer, when the 19-year-old man turned to one of the trans women and said, “You’re not a woman, you need a fanny to be a woman,” using a British slang term for female genitalia.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
“Tamsin Lush drop-kicked the male that had made that comment and he went to the ground,” Stringer said, according to the U.K. newspaper Metro. “The young man was on the floor and these defendants stamped and kicked him whilst he was on the floor.”
“Hannah Bryan came at a later stage and tried to pull them off, but was also seen trying to kick the male.”
Part of the altercation was caught on cell phone video and posted to social media.
Al Shaheeb had to be taken to the hospital after the attack and was left with a black eye and abrasions. He later refused to cooperate with prosecutors, making it difficult to prosecute the women.
Judge Nigel Seed acknowledged that the women “were subjected to extremely offensive transphobic and racial abuse. Had it not been for that there would have been no violent disorder.”
“I accept that had it not been for the alleged victim in this case there probably wouldn’t have been an incident,” he said. “However that does not excuse what you did, you went far too far in your reactions, but of course transphobic issues are particularly sensitive.”
“It is a sign that the so-called victim realized how wrong he was by refusing to cooperate and not make any statement.”
“I do not in any way your condone behavior but I accept that what happened to you at the beginning of the incident was entirely wrong and people like you should not be subject to that abuse in the public domain or anywhere.”
Lush, Daniel-Lewis, and Tylah-Jo Bryan all pled guilty to a charge of violent disorder and were sentenced to six months of curfew starting at 9 p.m. each night. Daniel-Lewis has to undergo anger management classes and Tylah-Jo Bryan has a 12-month “community order,” which could include anger management classes and community service.
Hannah Bryan, the cis woman, pled guilty to causing fear or provocation of violence and got a conditional discharge, meaning she won’t face punishment if she does not commit another offense for two years.
