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Wife can divorce sex-change man
May 1 2003
By Michael Posner, Birmingham Post
A wife whose husband is undergoing sex-change treatment has been granted a decree nisi at Stafford County Court on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour.
Donna Marie Whittall, of Redwing Road, Cannock, Staffordshire, petitioned to divorce Lisa Marie Whittall, aged 37, formerly known as Ian.
The couple have three children.
The decree will become absolute in six weeks' time.
Lisa Marie Whittall's sex-change treatment was disclosed in November last year when she appeared as a co-defendant at Stafford Crown Court and admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The court was told she and her co-accused attacked a man late at night in the street.
She punched him and put her foot on his head and ran off. She was jailed for 15 months. Her co-accused admitted inflicting grievous with intent to cause serious harm and was jailed for four years.
At the time Judge John Shand told Whittall: "You may be a vulnerable person. You are half-way through your treatment. I reduce your sentence because of exceptional circumstances."
Simon Drew, who defended, told the judge: "It is something she has struggled with throughout her life.
"By 2001 there were a lot of difficulties in her marriage. She consulted a doctor about her gender problem and has taken psychiatric counselling.
"She has a genuine on-going personality problem. She gave into pressure on that night and tried to prove her masculinity.
"Since this incident she has been forced to really confront her life. She is on a hormone course which will substantially reduce her aggression. She has had a problem of identity crisis and has changed her sex and wherever she goes (prison) she will face abuse.
"She will have to build a relationship with her children which will not be an easy thing to do."
