Zara Jade, 54, used the victim’s bank card to withdraw hundreds of pounds (Picture: PA/Getty)
A trans woman who stabbed, tied up and robbed her partner will serve her nearly decade-long sentence in a men’s prison.
Zara Jade, 54, attacked her partner at a Halifax flat last August and left her tied up while she used the victim’s bank card to withdraw cash from an ATM.
She pleaded guilty to six offences including false imprisonment, assault and robbery.
Bradford Crown Court sentenced Jade on Monday to nine years in jail with an extended licence period of three years.
Jade knifed her partner with a small knife before tying her using tights to an electrically-powered chair, set in the recline position.
She demanded the victim’s PIN number take out £300.
Jade tied her partner to a chair using tights (Picture: PA)
A district nurse – seeing what the court heard was the victim’s ‘superficial’ wounds – reported the incident to the police after a scheduled visit.
On top of a prison sentence, the judge handed down an indefinite restraining order banning Jade from contacting the victim,
Detective Constable Nicola Kirk of the Calderdale safeguarding team said: ‘We welcome the sentence handed to Jade for the truly awful abuse that she subjected her partner to.
‘I want to pay tribute to her victim for the courage she has shown in coming forward and supporting a prosecution which has resulted in the substantial sentence she has received.
‘We treat domestic abuse seriously across all our communities and would encourage anyone who may be suffering to come forward and report it.’
Trans women with a history of violence were banned in February from being housed in prisons that relate to their gender identity.
Out of 78,058 incarcerated people, just 230 are trans or non-binary, per official data last year (Picture: Corbis Historical)
The Justice Secretary’s policy prevents any trans women who have been convicted of sexual violence or have ‘male genitalia’ from entering women’s jails.
This means that if a trans woman hasn’t undergone gender-affirming surgery and commits even a minor offence, she would be housed in a men’s prison.
Though campaigners have questioned this, with trans people facing increased harm in prisons that don’t align with their gender.
Only a month before, Prisons minister Damian Hinds told the Commons: ‘Since the 2019 strengthening of our policy, there have been no assaults or sexual assaults committed by transgender women in women’s prisons and last year we further strengthened that policy.’
Official figures show that a large majority of trans women are placed in men’s prisons in England and Wales.
There are 230 trans people incarcerated out of a population of 78,058, according to a Ministry of Justice report released in November 2022.
Any trans woman with ‘male genitalia’ are no longer placed in women’s prisons (Picture: Getty Images Europe )
Of them, there were 168 trans women, 42 trans men, 13 non-binary people and seven who identified in a different way or did not provide a response.
Just six trans women inmates were housed in women’s prisons.
The report said: ‘Most transgender prisoners were in the men’s estates. 181 transgender prisoners were in male estates and 49 were in female estates.
‘There were six transgender women in female establishments.’
In 2017, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman said that trans people are among the most vulnerable inmates, especially when housed in all-male prisons.
Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen said at the time: ‘Transgender prisoners are among the most vulnerable, with evident risks of suicide and self-harm, as well as facing bullying and harassment.’
This echoed the Women and Equalities Committee’s findings the year before that said: ‘Caring for and managing trans offenders is crucial.
‘There is a clear risk of harm where trans prisoners are not located in a prison or other setting appropriate to their affirmed gender.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Zara Jade tied her partner to a chair using tights,