Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Anger as pair walk free after transgender attack
A TRANSGENDER woman attacked and threatened with death says the justice system has “let down” her and the trans community after the men responsible walked free from court.
Aria Welsh, Miss Transgender UK 2019, said her life was “turned upside down” by the transphobic assault in Dunfermline.
Ceiryn Meade and Mark Jeffrey from Rosyth, bottled and stamped on Ms Welsh in February 2019.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard the pair said they would “kill her” because they would not accept transgender people in the town.
Sheriff Susan Duff acknowledged their anti-transgender prejudice but gave community sentences.
An angry Ms Welsh said: “This incident turned my life upside down and I am devastated that the justice system has let down not only me but the trans community in Scotland.
“I’m still suffering from the effects of the incident through my mental health, mild brain damage and breathing issues and was devastated to lose the once-in-alifetime chance to tour the UK as Miss Transgender UK.
Ms Welsh, is from Crieff but lives in Perth.
She recalled how she and a friend had been speaking to Meade and Jeffrey in a Dunfermline pub earlier on the night of the attack.
She stayed out with others after her friend went home at about 8pm and she bought a takeaway in
Bridge Street at around midnight. She walked to the Kirkgate area to get a taxi but saw Jeffrey and Meade at a doorway to some flats and approached them.
Ms Welsh recalls the pair both looking at each other immediately before launching their attack.
She said she heard them saying: “This is what you get for being a tranny in our town. Let’s put this thing down.”
She said she heard them saying “let’s kill it”.
Procurator fiscal depute Laura McManus told Perth Sheriff Court a witness heard a “thumping noise” from the stairwell, coupled with the sound of laughter and a female crying”.
Police were contacted and a bloody Ms Welsh was able to describe her attackers.
Shortly before 1am, police arrested Meade and Jeffrey at a nearby takeaway.
Ms Welsh, 30, lost her confidence after the attack and was forced to give up training for a management post with Domino’s.
She said she is slowly but surely regaining her confidence.
Meade, 22, and Jeffrey, 33, admitted the attack aggravated by transphobia under section 2 of the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Act 2009.
Defence lawyers for Meade and Jeffrey argued their clients bear no antipathy to transgender people.
Meade was given 135 hours of unpaid work, an eight-month curfew and a supervision order for two years.
Jeffrey was given 216 hours of unpaid work and a curfew for 117 days, as well as a supervision order for 12 months.