A POLICE worker who is a prominent member of Croydon's transsexual community has been charged with attempted murder.
Helen Doe, 52, of Montgomery Close, Mitcham, appeared in custody at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court yesterday (July 7) charged with the attempted murder of a 64-year-old man at an address in Mitcham on Saturday (July 5).
She has been remanded in custody to appear Kingston Crown Court on July 21.
Ms Doe was one of the driving forces behind the Croydon Trans Group and began living her life as a woman in 2009. She works for Metropolitan Police Uniform Services.
In 2012, she told the Advertiser about her struggle with her identity, saying: "It is the hardest thing you can imagine. You are dealing with your own thoughts while worrying about what your friends and family will say.
"When I first told my mum I was meant to be a woman, it was hard for her to accept. She thought I was going out being a prostitute.
"She didn't understand what it meant, but these are the sort of prejudices we have to deal with.
"It has been a long hard battle to get where I am today. I have had to deal with a lot. I have been attacked twice in Croydon by gangs of young people who think it is OK because I am different.
"I have been shouted at in the street and it is just not right, but things are getting better now.
"I am at the stage where I have been living as a woman for two years. In February I will qualify for a new birth certificate which will be an amazing feeling.
"I haven't had a sex change yet, I have a long way to go until that but when I do I will have a choice between the full job or one they call the showpiece, which basically means you cannot have relations with others."
