Judge's mercy for Exeter transsexual

THE trauma of life as a transsexual has led to a city woman  being spared  a jail term.

Thea Cox was in breach of a 12-week suspended sentence when she was caught breaking into student accommodation to steal clothing and food.

She confessed to burglaries at Elmbrook House, in New North Road, on August 31 and September 14, and an address in Polsloe Road on September 19 and October 3. But a judge at Exeter Crown Court took the unusual step of not activating the jail term because of the extreme circumstances surrounding her case.

The 54-year-old, who lives at Gabriel House, in Smythen Street, was given an extended nine-month sentence suspended for two years.  Recorder Kevin De Haan QC told her: “This is such an unusual case — you’ve had a rotten life fighting the demons within yourself and have been able to stay out of trouble for many years until recently.

“It seems to me you have reached something of a turning point.

“A lot of people are trying hard to keep you on the straight and narrow. These are very unusual circumstances.

”I have decided that to activate the suspended sentence would be unjust.”

Speaking exclusively to the Echo after the case, Thea said she regretted her crimes,  and painted a dark picture of the life she has experienced in Exeter as a result of her chosen gender.

She described the city as “backward” and claims to have been verbally and physically abused regularly.

She returned to the city in April 2008 after more than 20 years living in London and claims to have faced more problems in the short time she has been back than her whole time in the capital.

She said: “People in Exeter need to be more aware and understanding.

“They are ignorant and loutish  and I have had a remarkable amount of abuse since I have been back here. I had hoped the area might have matured and grown up but it is still backward and the abuse started virtually straightaway.

“I have been hit with sticks and stones, had a hand put up my skirt to check on my gender and one time I was on a bus and stood up when one man just said, ‘You are one of them’, and beat me up right there on the bus.”

Thea, who was born in North Devon and named Timothy, revealed how she was dressed as a girl until the age of seven by her parents, who had wanted a daughter. But she denies this was the cause of her chosen sexuality. “It is all genetic”, she said.

She claims to have known from the age of eight that she should have been born female.

Despite this she was forced to join the Army by her father as a teenager and spent seven-and-a-half “difficult” years travelling to places including  Cyprus, Northern Ireland and Kenya.

“I only joined to meet my father’s approval. It was a sad and difficult time in a very masculine world.”

When she “came out” she said her entire family and several of her friends disowned her.

Despite this she described it as a “relief”.

“I am an honest person and true to myself everyday and feel totally comfortable with my sexuality.

“I have lived 24 hours a day seven days a week as a woman for nearly 30 years. All my legal documents are as a woman.

“When I finally came out I was much happier but while I raised the money for the operation it was frustrating as I knew what I wanted but could not quite reach it.”

She eventually had the full gender change operation 26 years ago at a cost of £12,000 but found initially there was little support in place. She said she was even offered medication at one stage to “cure” her of her “condition”. Her life subsequently descended into alcohol and drug addiction and petty crime.

But she has been off drugs for 11 years now and said her alcohol addiction was more “balanced”. She said she committed the student burglaries as she was homeless and hungry, but had not been in trouble with the police since.

She said she was gradually getting her life in order thanks to the support she is now receiving and even plans to work again — something she has not done in three years.

“I have a lot of support now, with a psychiatric nurse, a programme to help with drug and alcohol abuse, I have finally found housing and I visit a counsellor once a week. I am looking forward to the future.”