Stephanie McCarthy, a Sydney transgender musician who was bashed at a Newtown pub last month, confronted one of her alleged attackers outside Newtown Local Court yesterday, a confrontation during which she claims the alleged attacker threatened her.

As Tone Deaf reported last month, McCarthy was left with a swollen black eye and other injuries after a group of men taunted and repeatedly punched her as she was preparing to take the stage with her band at a Newtown venue in the early hours of 6th June.

According to Nine News, the two men charged with the assault, Nicholas Wells and Alexis Ozanne, appeared at Newtown Local Court on Thursday. Ms McCarthy claims that when she approached Mr Ozanne, he threatened to stab her.

“He said `see you real soon’,” McCarthy told AAP. She said he accompanied the threat with a throat-slitting gesture directed at her. A witness who wished not to be named told AAP that Ms McCarthy was yelling at Ozanne as he fled from a photographer outside the court.

“[Ms McCarthy] tried to pull a towel off his head,” he said. “There was a lot of swearing.” Both Ozanne and Wells are currently out on bail and Wells pleaded not guilty during a brief mention at the court.

According to Nine News, Ozanne successfully had his bail varied and must report to police three times a week. His mother, the court heard, was going to post a $2000 surety. Well is due back at court in August, while Ozanne is to return later this month.

Taking to Twitter yesterday, McCarthy described the month since her attack as “the worst five weeks of my life” and criticised the release of her attackers, insisting the case would have been handled differently were she not a transgender woman.

“This has been the worst [five] weeks of my life. And for what? So some pathetic little men can show how tough they are by king hitting a stranger,” she wrote. “If I was a rich, young guy from Mosman who got king hit, where do you think the offenders would be right now? Not out on bail that’s certain.”

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I guess I know what it’s like to be fucked in public now. Thanks N.S.W. court system,” McCarthy continued. “Trans woman gets king hit in a hate crime, offender gets to leave the state on bail to work. Quality justice. Trans lives don’t matter.”

McCarthy also shared an article by the Daily Mail, who managed to obtain photos of Ozanne, encouraging her social media followers to share the article, writing, “I want EVERYONE to see this guy’s face.”

In the aftermath of the attack, McCarthy claimed Sydney’s lockout laws were partly responsible for the attack, claiming the laws were making areas like Newtown unsafe by pushing punters who are “just here to bash people” out of the CBD and into lockout-free zones.

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