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KARREN BRADY

Cops should be policing the streets, not our pronouns

IT’S a damning indictment of a supposedly civilised country that the majority of women in Britain don’t feel safe to walk the streets alone at night.

Meanwhile, the forces of law and order seem more concerned with policing our pronouns than easing our fear of attack.

The forces of law and order seem more concerned with policing our pronouns than easing our fear of attack
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The forces of law and order seem more concerned with policing our pronouns than easing our fear of attackCredit: Getty
John Stephen Dixon was living as a man between 1989 and 1996 when he abused five girls and two boys aged between six and fifteen
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John Stephen Dixon was living as a man between 1989 and 1996 when he abused five girls and two boys aged between six and fifteen
But after she transitioned in 2004 and became Sally Ann, Sussex Police announced last week that 'a woman' had been sentenced
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But after she transitioned in 2004 and became Sally Ann, Sussex Police announced last week that 'a woman' had been sentencedCredit: PA

Which is how Sussex Police found itself defending a vile paedophile because of “hateful comments” online aimed at their gender.

John Stephen Dixon was living as a man between 1989 and 1996 when he abused five girls and two boys aged between six and 15.

But after she transitioned in 2004 and became Sally Ann, Sussex Police announced last week that “a woman” had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for 30 counts of indecent assault or indecency with a child.

The backlash it prompted was entirely understandable.

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Sally Ann never legally changed gender, so under the law is still a man.

The fact that a taxpayer-funded police force — who deal in the rule of law — finds expressing that fact to be “hateful” seems beyond absurd.

Child sexual assaults are rarely ­committed by women — fewer than four per cent of cases — so it is frustrating to see particularly heinous crimes blamed on a female perpetrator.

Yes, 58-year-old Dixon’s changing gender had muddied the waters and Sussex Police, whose officers regularly join in the Pride march at Brighton, is perhaps more sensitive to gender than most forces, because it has the most LGBT officers and ­covers a bigger LGBT community than most.

But the force really showed its confused ­priorities in answer to the furore, when it tweeted that it did not “tolerate any hateful comments” towards a person’s gender identity “regardless of crimes committed”, and added: “This is irrelevant to the crime that has been committed and investigated.”

It seemed to me, and others, to be entirely relevant, and people were entitled to express that without the force getting on its high horse about what free speech it would or would not tolerate.

The victims know exactly who it was that abused them, no matter what Sussex Police tell them.

No wonder Home ­Secretary Suella Braverman condemned the force for “playing identity politics and denying biology”.

I am not disputing, by the way, the fact that Sally Ann genuinely identifies as a woman now.

Although the fact that she will serve her jail time in a women’s prison rather than a men’s, when she doesn’t have a gender recognition certificate so is still male under the law, raises other issues.

But bad people come in all shapes and sizes. And genders.

The focus in this case should be on the crime itself, rather than the pronouns of the perpetrator.

Just to reiterate, the youngest of Dixon’s poor victims — now all adults — was just six years old.

The thought of it is enough to make the blood boil and I can’t imagine there is a human being out there who would ­disagree with the idea that anyone — male or female — who is guilty of such a crime is a horrendous person who deserves the maximum punishment the law allows.

It makes it all the more important that our police concentrate on catching criminals rather than worrying about what we might call them.

Legacy fit for Molly

IT must have felt like a hollow victory, but I truly hope the inquest verdict into teenager Molly Russell’s death brings her family some peace.

This week a senior coroner concluded that Molly died as a result of self-harm while suffering from depression and the “negative effects of online content”.

I truly hope the inquest verdict into teenager Molly Russell’s death brings her family some peace
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I truly hope the inquest verdict into teenager Molly Russell’s death brings her family some peaceCredit: PA

Andrew Walker said that images of self-harm and suicide she viewed on social media contributed “more than minimally” to her death.

Molly, 14, from Harrow, North West London, died in 2017 after viewing the disturbing content on Instagram and Pinterest, prompting her family to campaign for improved online safety.

Coroner Walker said online material viewed by the teenager “was not safe” and “shouldn’t have been available for a child to see”, which demonstrates what Molly’s father has been saying all along – that these companies have Molly’s blood on their hands.

I am so sorry that nothing will bring Molly back to her family.

But let’s hope this verdict means that social media companies are finally going to have to take responsibility – and action – to protect our children and young people.

That’s the legacy she deserves.

Tell me how you stay so young, Tom

I OFTEN like to praise women who look fantastic, but it’s time for me to turn to a fella.

Because what I really want to know this week is – what is Tom Cruise’s secret?

What I really want to know this week is – what is Tom Cruise’s secret?
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What I really want to know this week is – what is Tom Cruise’s secret?Credit: Getty
The Scientologist looks like he hasn’t aged at all since the handsome original hit our screens for the first time in the Eighties
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The Scientologist looks like he hasn’t aged at all since the handsome original hit our screens for the first time in the EightiesCredit: Getty

He has been popping up in the UK over the past few months, most recently after flying himself to London by helicopter on Thursday to continue filming Mission: Impossible 8.

And frankly, although he is 60, the Scientologist looks like he hasn’t aged at all since the handsome original hit our screens for the first time in the Eighties.

His rather wacky religion believes that humans are immortal spirits.

If Tom’s anything to go by, then maybe there’s something in that after all.

Kate's happy snaps

THERE’S something so special about Kate and William’s photographs of their beautiful children.

They seem all the happier for being photographed by their mother in natural shots, rather than staged snaps taken by a stranger.

There's something so special about Kate and William’s photographs of their beautiful children
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There's something so special about Kate and William’s photographs of their beautiful childrenCredit: EPA

So for anyone to have issue with the fact that the Princess of Wales delights in sharing her sweet photos with the world is rather churlish, to say the least, don’t you think?

According to royal photographer John Swannell, Kate is dashing the hopes of a generation of photographers by taking her own pictures of the royal children, rather than letting someone else “make their name” doing it.

How ridiculous to criticise a mother for taking and sharing beautiful photos of her children with the world – something that other members of the Royal Family are often criticised for not doing enough.

This really does show that they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

Amazing Amal is a real-life wonder woman

GLOWING Amal Clooney is a rare example of someone who just seems to get happier and more glamorous with age.

She also seems to be content leading a relatively under-the-radar life, which I guess is what happens when you are married to the world’s most handsome man.

Amal Clooney is a rare example of someone who just seems to get happier and more glamorous with age
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Amal Clooney is a rare example of someone who just seems to get happier and more glamorous with ageCredit: EPA

But seeing the two of them together as they arrived to host the Clooney Foundation For Justice’s first Albie Awards in New York on Thursday really was a sight to behold.

It’s hard to believe that as well as being Mrs Clooney and a total goddess, she is also a human rights lawyer.

What a woman.

Don't junk the jab

ONE of the many ripple effects of Covid appears to be a growing suspicion of vaccinations.

Figures show vaccination levels against virtually all serious diseases, such as polio and measles, have dropped.

And as a result, thousands of children who have not had their routine jabs now face an increased risk of catching deadly diseases.

I am sure the reasons for this are many and complicated.

But now we have been warned that the UK must prepare for a big, early wave of flu, coinciding with increasing numbers of Covid cases, can I just issue a plaintive reminder that it is really worth everyone getting jabbed – for both flu and Covid.

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I’m due to have mine on Saturday.

Anything to avoid another winter in lockdown or being ill.

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