A transgender girl was attacked and stabbed nine times by a gang of mask-wearing youths due to her gender identity, a court has heard.
The 18-year-old victim was surrounded and pinned to the ground outside Harrow Leisure Centre in northwest London on 10 February last year and was subjected to transphobic slurs.
As a result, she was hospitalised and suffered knife wounds to her thighs, buttocks and her right flank which penetrated the outer lining of her abdomen.
Summer Betts-Ramsey, 20, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent after she brought a knife to the scene, and was caught on camera making 14 stabbing motions towards the victim as she lay on the floor.
Bradley Harris, 18, Camron Osei, 18, Shiloh Hinds, 18, and another 17-year-old teenager have also pleaded guilty to the same offence, after orchestrating the attack and delivering punches, kicks and stamping on her head.
As a result, the victim said she suffered nightmares and panic attacks and was nervous about leaving her house: “At times when I close my eyes I replay the assault in my head and visualise the knife being used on me. I am unable to control it and I feel at times it is taking over my life.”
The hearing was held at the Old Bailey (PA Archive)
The Old Bailey heard in the weeks before the attack, the victim was invited to a Snapchat group to organise a trip to a roller disco which was taking place at the leisure centre.
After flirting online Harris, who was also part of the group, invited the victim to his home address on 29 January, and she performed oral sex on him. While they were in his bedroom, Harris was contacted by a friend who told him she was “trans”, but the victim denied it having previously been attacked in the past.
During their sexual interaction, she remained unaware that Harris had positioned his phone up while on a Facetime call with another teenage youth, with a video recording later posted on social media.
Shortly afterwards, Harris was contacted again to be told that the victim was a “t****y”, which led him to pick up a knife and threaten “I’ll stab you if you lie”. Feeling “intimidated”, the victim admitted she was transgender and was told to leave.
Recounting the events, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said: “Harris told the group that the complainant was transgender and had lied to him about it. Although she tried to deny it, the group then turned on her and backed Harris.”
The victim apologised a few days later to Harris and the group, and believed her apology had been accepted.
In the hours before the attack, the court heard the victim had sent a message asking the group when they were going to meet for the roller disco, only to be told to “shut the f*** up” by Betts-Ramsey.
When she asked why, she was told “You’re a f***ing t****y”, with the conversation descending into an argument between both girls and two of the teenage boys.
Various threats were made, with the victim told “ur a man” and she retaliated by threatening to give Betts-Ramsey the “beating her white parents never gave her”. Throughout this encounter, the four teenage boys encouraged the two girls to fight and for the victim to “smash up Summer”.
Ms Heer KC added: “In fact, all of this was a ruse. During this exchange, between 4.35pm and 4.48pm Betts-Ramsey was separately in contact via Facetime with a group whose members included Bradley Harris, Camron Osei, Shiloh Hinds and another teenager.
“The telephone evidence suggests that they were setting the victim up to be attacked in Harrow that evening.”
Shortly before the attack, Betts-Ramsey also received a call from an inmate at Feltham youth prison and said: “I have to go to Harrow to beat up some f***ing yout … a f***ing t****y bro, like imagine. My friend got slops from… Like bro my friend thought it was a girl init.”
The judge was shown CCTV footage of the attack, with the victim seen being pulled to the floor and repeatedly struck before she was stabbed repeatedly. Harris was seen kicking her seven times, while another teenager used roller skates to beat her. A 17-year-old female teenager stole her make-up, Monzo card and her cash.
During the assault, the victim heard a high-pitched voice calling her a “t****y”, with members of the group also filming the incident and posting it on social media.
The victim was subsequently rushed to hospital with a number of stab wounds and a weak pulse, and she was referred to the plastic surgery team for further treatment.
In voice notes found on Betts-Ramsey’s phone, she repeatedly referred to the victim as “it” and said: “Bro it’s not a girl, it’s a f***ing t****y bro, it’s a f***ing it, it, not even a girl or boy, it’s an it.”
“The prosecution maintains that the offence was motivated, at least in part, by hostility towards the complainant’s transgender identity,” Ms Heer KC said.
Betts-Ramsey, Harris, Osei, Hinds and another teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent, with Betts-Ramsey also to be sentenced for possession of a knife.
A 17-year-old girl who also cannot be named due to her age is to be sentenced for robbery and possession of cannabis.
The sentencing continues on Thursday.