Attacker Assaults Three Men, Blames Suppressed Transgender Identity

IE — Dublin. On December 7, 2017, Sean Kavanagh punched a bartender and threw a bottle at an event manager while being kicked out of the Malt House Bar for knocking over several glasses. Once outside the bar, Kavanagh tried to run back in, at which point a family friend, Thomas Coogan, tried to stop him. Kavanagh punched Coogan in the face, fracturing Coogan’s skull and causing bleeding to the brain; Coogan spent several days in intensive care.

Kavanagh pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing harm and two counts of assault. In court on February 19, 2021, defence barrister Cathleen Noctor SC said that Kavanagh had previously been living in London as a woman, but after returning to Dublin was “suppressing her gender”. A psychological report claimed that Kavanagh’s “anger (that night) is likely to have emanated from the frustration about how her life was progressing… including suppressed gender.” At some point after the bar assaults, Kavanagh began identifying as a woman called Shauna, and now has a gender recognition certificate, which was provided to the court.

Noctor argued in court that Kavanagh is “vulnerable” and would find prison particularly difficult, referencing international research that “has found transgender women in particular are a vulnerable group in prison”. Noctor referred to two males currently being held in women’s jails in Ireland, who must be kept separate from the rest of the prison population.

The two males in women’s prisons are:

• Barbie Kardashian, who has demonstrated a pattern of extreme physical and sexual violence towards women
• An unnamed pedophile, who was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault and one count of cruelty against a child

Uh, he beat the hell out of 3 men and sent one to the ICU. Sounds like he’ll be as safe as any other man in prison.

— Karen ⬛️🟧 (@sockmother) February 20, 2021

If sentenced to prison, Kavanagh will likely be sent to a women’s institution, based on Ireland’s current policy of housing male prisoners who have a gender recognition certificate with women.

Limerick women’s prison already has 2 males there, being guarded by additional prison officers to protect the women (fair play to the Irish prison service for actually considering the women’s safety – because the law doesn’t 😡)

— Annette Neary 🇮🇪 (@feline_charm) February 19, 2021

Kavanagh’s sentencing is still to come.