Lauren Jeska

Last updated

Lauren Jeska
Born (1974-09-05) 5 September 1974 (age 49)
Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Alma mater Oxford University
Leeds University
Known forAttempted murder of Ralph Knibbs
Criminal chargesAttempted murder, assault occasioning actual bodily harm
Criminal penalty18 years imprisonment
Criminal statusImprisoned at HM Prison Foston Hall

Lauren Jeska (born 5 September 1974) [1] is a British former fell runner from Lancaster. Jeska, a trans woman, [2] was convicted of the attempted murder of Ralph Knibbs, HR manager for UK Athletics after Knibbs investigated Jeska's eligibility to compete as a woman.

Contents

Early life

Jeska was born to parents Pauline and Graham Jameson. [3] Graham Jameson is a mathematician at Lancaster University and both parents are active in Lancaster Baptist Church. She had two younger twin brothers, one of whom had mental health issues and took his own life. [3]

Jeska went to Lancaster Royal Grammar School, running on the cross-country team. She went on to Oxford University, where she studied physics, gaining a first. [3] Jeska began studying for a doctorate there but dropped out of the course. She later attended Leeds University, gaining a master's in 2006 in Gender, Sexuality and Queer Theory. [4] [5]

Transitioning and fell-running

During Easter of 1998 Jeska came out to her parents as a trans woman, and had a orchiectomy in 2000. While at Leeds, she took up fell-running, finding immediate success, winning the Blackshaw Head fell race in 2008. [6] She later joined Todmorden Harriers athletics club, and went on to win the 2010 Three Shires Fell Race, the 2011 Liverpool Half Marathon, the 2010, 2011, and 2012 English, and 2012 British Fell Running Championships. [2] After moving to Wales she joined Aberystwyth Athletics Club.[ citation needed ]

Attempted murder

In June 2015, UK Athletics told Jeska that she would be required to provide blood tests to prove that her hormone levels were within normal female range. [3] Jeska took exception as she felt it would reveal her transgender status publicly. She failed to provide the samples required. [7]

In March 2016 she attacked Ralph Knibbs, a former professional rugby player and UK Athletics HR manager, with a knife at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Jeska stabbed Knibbs in the head and neck, resulting in a 2 cm (0.8 in) hole with blood pumping out. She claimed she feared UK Athletics would strip her of her records and her eligibility to compete against female athletes. [2] [7] Jeska also attacked Tim Begley and Kevan Taylor, employees of UKA who came to Knibbs's aid. [7]

In September 2016, she pleaded guilty to attempted murder plus two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on Begley and Taylor, and weapons charges for knife possession. [8]

On 15 November 2016, she was scheduled to be detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983, but the hearing was adjourned for a month pending further psychiatric reports. [9] Jeska was found during these investigations to have autism. [10] [11]

In March 2017, Jeska was jailed for 18 years for the crimes, which severed nerves in Knibbs's body, leaving him with restricted movement, difficulty eating, and limited vision in both eyes. [12]

As of September 2016, Jeska was on remand at HM Prison Foston Hall in Derbyshire. [13] Her racing results were declared null and void. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and reading in the United Kingdom, and sponsored by Nestlé, the manufacturer of Smarties candy. It was one of the most respected and prestigious prizes for children's literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancaster Royal Grammar School</span> State school in Lancaster, Lancashire, England

Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) is an 11–18 boys grammar school in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Old students belong to The Old Lancastrians. The school's sixth form opened to girls in 2019. LRGS is also in the United Kingdom's thirty oldest schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Stadium</span> International Athletics Stadium in Birmingham, England

Alexander Stadium is an athletics stadium in Perry Barr, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is the largest athletics stadium in the United Kingdom. The stadium has four stands with a total seated capacity of 18,000. The stadium site has four buildings which include the Gymnastics and Martial Arts Centre (GMAC), High Performance Centre, East Stand and newly built West Stand. Original construction began in 1975, and the stadium opened in 1976. It is owned and operated by Birmingham City Council.

Michael Curtis Brewer is a convicted sex offender and former British music teacher and choral conductor. He was the founding musical director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and had been Director of Music for Chetham's School of Music in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1995, but was stripped of the honour in 2013 following his conviction on five counts of indecent assault against a girl who had been one of his pupils. He was jailed for six years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison Styal</span> Womens prison in Styal, England

HM Prison Styal is a Closed Category prison for female adults and young offenders in Styal, Cheshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss City Marathon</span> Annual race in Switzerland held since 2007

The Swiss City Marathon is a marathon in Lucerne, first held in 2007. A half marathon and a "try-out marathon" (Schnuppermarathon) of 13 km are also part of the programme.

HM Prison Foston Hall is a women's closed category prison and Young Offenders Institution, located in the village of Foston in Derbyshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of James Bulger</span> 1993 child murder in Liverpool, England

On 12 February 1993 in Merseyside, two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, abducted, tortured, and murdered a two-year-old boy, James Patrick Bulger. Thompson and Venables led Bulger away from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, after his mother had taken her eyes off him momentarily. His mutilated body was found on a railway line two and a half miles away in Walton, Liverpool, two days later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stabbing of Stephen Timms</span> Attempted assassination of a British politician

On 14 May 2010, Stephen Timms, the Labour MP for East Ham, was suddenly stabbed whilst holding a constituency surgery by Roshonara Choudhry, a 21-year-old British student and an Islamic extremist, in an attempt to kill him. She was found guilty of attempted murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years. Choudhry was the first Al-Qaeda sympathiser to attempt an assassination in Britain.

The Peterborough ditch murders were a series of murders which took place in Cambridgeshire, England, in March 2013. All three victims were male and died from stab wounds. Their bodies were discovered dumped in ditches outside Peterborough. In Hereford, two other men were stabbed but survived. The perpetrator was Joanna Christine Dennehy, a Cambridgeshire woman, who was later sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order.

Ralph Andrew Knibbs is an English former rugby union player who played for Bristol.

Events from 2016 in England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasmin Paris</span> British runner (born 1983)

Jasmin Karina Paris is a British runner who has been a national fell running champion and who has set records for the Bob Graham Round and the Ramsay Round. In 2024, she was the first woman to successfully complete the Barkley Marathons.

The Three Shires Fell Race is an annual Lake District fell race held in September, starting and finishing at the Three Shires Inn in Little Langdale. After an initial run along the valley, the route climbs steeply to Wetherlam, then down to Prison Band and up to the summit of Swirl How. The course then drops to the Three Shire Stone at the top of the Wrynose Pass, the meeting point of the historic counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland. An ascent of Pike of Blisco follows, then the route drops to Blea Tarn before the final climb to Lingmoor Fell and descent to the finish.

Events from 2017 in England

The first British Fell Running Championships, then known as Fell Runner of the Year, were held in 1972 and the scoring was based on results in all fell races. In 1976 this was changed to the runner's best ten category A races and further changes took place to the format in later years. Starting with the 1986 season, an English Fell Running Championships series has also taken place, based on results in various races of different lengths over the year.

Events from 1974 in England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Brianna Ghey</span> 2023 stabbing murder in Cheshire, England

On 11 February 2023, Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old British transgender girl, was murdered in a premeditated attack by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe. After being lured into Culcheth Linear Park by Jenkinson, Ghey was fatally stabbed.

References

  1. ↑ "IAAF: Lauren JESKA – Profile". iaaf.org.
  2. 1 2 3 Jeska, Lauren (22 September 2016). "Fell-runner Lauren Jeska tried to kill British athletics official because he/she feared the body would revoke his/her titles over transgender status". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Pidd, Helen (17 March 2017). "Jailed transgender fell runner thought UK Athletics was 'trying to kill her'". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Pidd, Helen (17 March 2017). "Jailed fell runner thought UK Athletics was 'trying to kill her'". The Guardian .
  5. ↑ Willgress, Lydia (22 September 2016). "Fell-runner Lauren Jeska tried to kill British athletics official because she feared the body would revoke her titles over transgender status". The Telegraph– via Telegraph.co.uk.
  6. ↑ "Addison conquers Kendal grid-lock to win Withins". Keighley News. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Lauren Jeska jailed for Alexander Stadium stabbings". BBC News. 14 March 2017.
  8. ↑ "Champion fell-runner Lauren Jeska admits attempted murder". The Guardian. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  9. ↑ "Yorkshire fell-runner Lauren Jeska to be sentenced to hospital order over murder bid". Yorkshire Post. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  10. ↑ Pidd, Helen (17 March 2017). "Jailed fell runner thought UK Athletics was 'trying to kill her'". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Perraudin, Frances (22 September 2016). "Champion fell-runner Lauren Jeska admits attempted murder". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "Lauren Jeska jailed for Alexander Stadium stabbings". BBC News. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  13. ↑ "Fell-runner Lauren Jeska admits attempted murder of athletics official". Sky News.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.