A woman who carried out a “sickening” transphobic stabbing attack motivated by a “distorted notion of revenge” has been sentenced to more than eight years in youth detention.
The victim, a transgender woman, was lured to a roller disco before being “viciously” stabbed nine times in Harrow, North West London, on February 10 last year in an attack involving five young people wearing masks, the Old Bailey heard.
The woman, who was 18 at the time was also punched, kicked and stamped on while transphobic slurs were shouted at her.
Members of the group later bragged about the assault and taunted their victim, posting footage of what they had done on social media.
The court was told that later that night, after stabbing the victim nine times, Summer Betts-Ramsey, 20, told a friend: “It deserved it.”
As Betts-Ramsey was stabbing her, the others continued to attack her with kicks and punches for about 45 seconds before the group left the scene, the prosecutor said.
Sentencing her to eight and a half years in youth detention, of which four and half must be served in custody, Mr Justice Katz described the attack as “abhorrent”. He said it was motivated by a “distorted notion of revenge”, in part linked to the victim’s gender identity.
The disturbing scenes unfolded after the gang were angered by the victim lying about her gender identity after she kissed Harris and gave him oral sex, the court heard.
Harris was then told the woman was transgender, and he challenged her about it – which she initially denied “having been attacked in the past because of her transgender identity”, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told the Old Bailey
Soon afterwards, another friend told Harris the woman was a “tranny”, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said.
She denied it, but when Harris picked up a knife and said: “I’ll stab you if you lie,” she felt intimidated and admitted she was transgender before Harris told her to leave.
Bradley Harris, Camron Osei, and Shiloh Hindes, all 18, were sentenced to three years in youth detention.
A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named, was given a youth rehabilitation order.
All members of the group admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent, while Betts-Ramsey also admitted possession of a knife.
On the day of the attack, the woman left her home, believing she was going to a roller-skating event with the group, the court heard.
Once at a nearby car park, she was “immediately attacked”, and she had no time to say anything or do anything to defend herself, the court was told.
Luckily the woman survived thanks to passers-by stepping in to help.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said she still has “thick scars” as a result of the attack.
The woman said she has suffered panic attacks since the incident and has struggled to sleep, adding she fears she might not be able to work as a model because of her injuries.
Detective Inspector Nicola Hannant, who led the investigation, said: “This was a horrendous and violent assault on a young woman, motivated by the fact she is transgender.
“This was a pre-meditated attack where the young people involved lured the victim to the venue, concealed their identities by wearing face coverings, discussed using weapons and, after the attack, made efforts to get rid of any evidence.”