A champion runner has been convicted of attempted murder and other crimes a year after she stabbed a man set to strip of her national titles and bar her from competition as a woman.
According to reports, Lauren Jeska, a transgender fell runner (a form of cross-country running) was being considered for international competition in 2015 when a question arose about her hormone levels. According to testimony, she feared blood tests would out her as a trans woman.
That fear drove her to attacking the man handling her case.
Jeska admitted to the attempted murder during the trial. The victim, UK Athletics official Ralph Knibbs, has been rendered disabled due to decreased eyesight from a stroke suffered during the attack, and other ailments as the result of severed nerves. She also admitted to causing bodily harm in the attack to two other people, Kevan Taylor and Tim Begley.
The judge in the case said Jeska will not be eligible for release until she’s served 12 years of her sentence. Because of the “chilling precision” with which she carried out the attack, the judge said she is a particular danger to society.
According to Jeska’ parents, as she was struggling with possibly being outed, she "twice asked for help from the NHS but was not referred for psychiatric help," as reported by the BBC.
The tragic story demonstrates the importance of getting people psychiatric help, particularly when they ask for it, and continuing to handle the possible outing of transgender people with the utmost care. As we see here, and with the Dr. V story three years ago, the consequences can be dire.
