Sunday, September 13, 2009

Teenager 'attacked mother after discovering she had a sex change'

A teenager was charged with assault after he lost his temper and hit his mother whom he discovered was undergoing a sex change, a court has heard. The 15 year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, attacked his mother last month after discovering she wanted to become a man, Prestatyn youth court, in North Wales, heard.

The court heard the teenager had arrived at his mother’s home in Prestatyn, Clwyd, North Wales to discover her “dressed like a man”. Shocked at the discovery, he originally thought she was “winding him up”, prosecutors said.

But he snapped after realising his mother, also “looking very mannish”, was serious in pursuing a sex change and pushed her to the ground.

The teenager, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Tourette's Syndrome, was later arrested after his mother called police. He was later charged with assault.

Magistrates gave him a conditional discharge after the court heard he had been shocked at the news and had acted out of character. Defence lawyers questioned why the teenager was even charged in the first place and accused authorities of not acting sensitively to the teenager’s ordeal.

They said they were “astonished” that he was hauled before the courts, with a better solution him being sent to counselling.

No comments: