Transsexual burglar escapes jail

Thea Cox, a burglar caught stealing make-up and women’s clothes has been spared a prison sentence after a judge decided she had endured “a rotten life” as a transsexual.

Cox, 54, was originally given a suspended 12-week prison sentence for having an offensive weapon with her as she carried out four burglaries last year.

She returned to the same student flats this summer and carried out two further raids – on each occasion while wearing an electronic tag.



Under normal circumstances she might have expected to go straight to prison for being in breach of her suspended sentence. But Recorder Kevin Hann, sitting at Exeter Crown Court, decided to suspend a new nine-month term for a further two years.

He told Cox: “This is such an unusual case - you've had a rotten life fighting the demons within yourself and have been able to stay out of trouble for many years until recently.

"It seems to me you have reached something of a turning point. A lot of people are trying hard to keep you on the straight and narrow. These are very unusual circumstances. I have decided that to activate the suspended sentence would be unjust."