Transgender musician Stephanie McCarthy, who was bashed in an alleged hate crime outside Newtown pub The Townie, has been involved in a heated confrontation with her alleged attackers outside court.
The Love Maul bassist says she was taunted and threatened by the two men during a dramatic exchange outside a Sydney courthouse, where they were both appearing yesterday on a raft of charges in relation to the June attack.
According to McCarthy, one of the accused, Alexis Ozanne, was winking AT her throughout the court proceedings, and then blew her a kiss as he left, saying, “I’ll see you soon”.
“That’s when I lost it,” she told Fairfax. “I was screaming and yelling. I was just so upset.”
In her distress, McCarthy apparently also made a grab for the towel that Ozanne was using to cover his face as he exited the courthouse.
The musician further alleges that a male friend of the two accused men was waiting outside the courtroom and told her, “Our boys are coming to stab you … we can get you anywhere”.
“Threatened 4 times today at court by offenders and friends, complete with throat slitting motions,” she tweeted after proceedings had wrapped up. “No justice for trans folks it seems.”
Ozanne and his co-accused, Nicholas Wells, have both been released on bail, after Wells pleaded not guilty to his charges during a brief mention at the court yesterday.
Ozanne is due to front the Newtown courthouse again on July 21st, while Wells is set to return on August 13th.
“Trans woman gets king hit in a hate crime, offender gets to leave the state on bail to work,” McCarthy tweeted. “Quality justice. Trans lives don’t matter.”
McCarthy’s ordeal has served as something of a lightning rod for the residents of Newtown and wider LGBT community, who rallied around her after she was left bruised and bloodied for the crime of being different.
McCarthy spoke publicly shortly after the initial incident at a rally that attracted hundreds of people, criticising Sydney’s lockout laws for making the traditionally accepting and alternative suburb of Newtown feel increasingly unsafe.
Watch: Locals Protest After Transgender Musician Bashed At Sydney Hotel
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