A biological male prosecuted for the possession of 11 indecent images of children has appeared at sentencing identifying as a woman.

Dominic Mark Carter, who now goes by the name Sophie Louise Carter, attended Southampton Crown Court dressed in a pink shirt, pink shorts and pink nail polish.

Upon arrest, Carter wrestled with police to stop them seizing two phones in which evidence of indecent material existed. Carter has admitted three counts of making indecent images of children in relation to an incident in April 2021.

Carter seemingly identified as a man while he was arrested, but the court were told that he now identifies as a woman.

On top of five convictions for six past offences, Carter was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and must complete 60 hours of rehabilitation activity requirement sessions and 120 hours of unpaid work.

Carter must also be registered to the sex offenders list and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

Judge Nicholas Rowland told Carter, “The reason that children around the world are subject to abuse and it is filmed is because people seek gratification.

“People like you get gratification from looking at those images.”

This follows a number of similar cases in which the defendant has changed identity during the time of prosecution.

In July, Tanya Howes, a trans paedophile convicted of possessing “grossly offensive” pornographic material had their case delayed so a decision could be made on where to house the offender.

The magistrates told Howes that the offences “would normally attract immediate custody” but that they had decided to suspend a 12-month jail term, following lengthy delays to the case.

The case of Isla Bryson also hit headlines and sparked public outcry earlier in the year.

Bryson, who was found guilty of raping two women while a man, transitioned while awaiting trial, and was sent to an all-female prison.

Bryson was later moved to a male wing of HMP Edinburgh.

It was while the case of Bryson was live that the Scottish Government were trying to pass the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, amid much opposition.

The Bill would make it easier for people to change their legal gender, by lowering the age limit and removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

The UK Government ruled out adopting a self-ID system in 2020 which would allow a person to change their legal gender without a medical diagnosis, and Labour have recently confirmed they would not introduce such a system.