- Scarlet Blake, a trans woman, was called a woman throughout her trial
- But she has been sent to a male prison following her murder conviction
- Thames Valley’s crime tsar said officers should record a detainee’s birth sex
Police should record suspects’ sex as well as their gender, a crime tsar has said, after his force recorded the crimes of a transgender murderer and cat-killer as committed by a woman.
Thames Valley police and crime commissioner Matthew Barber has called for a change in the law that would make it mandatory for officers to record the birth sex of detainees in the custody record.
His comments, in a letter to the Home Secretary, come as it emerged the crimes of Scarlet Blake – sentenced to life on Monday for the murder of Jorge Carreno in Oxford after previously killing a cat – will be officially recorded by his force as having been committed by a woman, under policing guidelines.
Currently forces can record birth sex in crime counting but this is voluntary and it is the preferred gender of the detainee that is always recorded.
In his letter to James Cleverly, Mr Barber said: ‘Recording this additional information, as well as someone’s preferred gender, would allow detainees to be treated respectfully while still ensuring that custody records and crime figures accurately reflect crimes committed by male and female offenders.’
Currently forces can record birth sex in crime counting but this is voluntary and it is the preferred gender of the detainee that is always recorded
Scarlet Blake, 26, (pictured, left) who was born biologically male but identifies as a woman, was jailed for a minimum of 24 years for the murder of Spanish engineer Jorge Carreno (pictured, right)
Blake has been sent to a Category A male prison but was referred to as a woman during her trial
Blake, 26, who was born biologically male but identifies as a woman, was jailed for a minimum of 24 years for the murder of Spanish engineer Mr Carreno.
The case has sparked a major row, with author JK Rowling, former ministers and lawyers among those to criticise reports that referred to the killer as a woman without explaining she is transgender.
Ms Rowling has said: ‘Crime statistics are rendered useless if violent and sexual attacks committed by men are recorded as female crimes.’
Blake has been sent to a Category A male prison but was referred to as a woman during her trial, in accordance with judiciary guidelines.
Mr Barber said it was right that Blake was sent to a male prison but it was vital to update the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) to ensure criminals are recorded under the sex they were assigned at birth as well their preferred gender.
The PCC has previously criticised his force for referring to transgender Osareen Omoruyi, charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child, as a woman in a press release.
Thames Valley Police confirmed that because Blake identified as a female while in custody, she was recorded as a woman on the force’s crime recording system in accordance with PACE guidelines.
The force said her gender did not form any part of the prosecution case, adding that it had been the force’s priority to convict the person responsible for Mr Carreno’s murder and achieve justice.
‘Thames Valley Police adheres to the law and codes of practice, outlined by the Equality Act 2010, and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code C, when establishing and recording the gender of a person in our custody,’ a spokesman said.
Transgender women convicted of a crime must be recorded as men if they have not legally changed their gender, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘The definition of a woman is the biological sex and that biological sex matters. Police forces should follow the College of Policing guidance that a person’s gender is that which was registered at birth unless they have been issued with a gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act.’
Maya Forstater, the founder of campaign group Sex Matters, said police should always record the sex of suspects and perpetrators.
‘No law requires police to record false information about criminals’ sex or to mix it up with the nebulous concept of ‘gender identity’,’ she added.
