Transgender woman who tried to kill random people in 7-Eleven axe attack sentenced to 9 years in prison.

5years ago

A transgender woman who tried to murder three strangers with an ax at a convenience store in Sydney's inner west two years ago has been sentenced Friday to nine years behind bars.

Security camera vision captured Evie Amati, 26, swinging an ax randomly at customers of a Sydney 7-Eleven in January 2017.

Amati, the child of West Australian trade union royalty.was gifted academically and would go on to top the state in English, and become the highest achiever of Western Australia’s top public school in English literature, ancient history, and political science.

Evie Amati's life took a downward spiral after having gender reassignment surgery in Thailand in 2014.

she began taking recreational drugs to deal with the pain, her defense lawyer Charles Waterstreet told a Sydney court last week.

During the three-week trial, Amati argued her body carried out the attack but her mind did not, because she had taken a cocktail of drugs, alcohol and prescription medication and was experiencing a psychosis.

She said her mental health had deteriorated since she started taking hormones to transition from male to female.

A jury rejected that Amati was mentally ill at the time of the attack.

Security footage shown during Amati’s trial shows her approaching her first victim, Bem Rimmer, who was in line to buy a meat pie.

Back in July, Rimmer told the court that he initially thought the ax was a prop from a costume party — but then felt “an ill feeling, something wasn’t quite right,” as Amati came closer.

“I turned away and then I was struck, I was hit across the face, over my nose. It was like being king hit,” he said. “Then I stood up, the blood, I was bleeding profusely.”

Rimmer suffered a 4-inch facial wound and fractures.

She then attacked her second victim, Sharon Hacker, near the door, fracturing the woman's skull.

Amati turned on a third customer, Shane Redwood, but he shielded himself using his backpack. She was arrested shortly after.

On Friday, Judge Mark Williams said the "violent and unprovoked" attacks were "graphic and shocking".

"The risk of death was high in each of the cases, and the fact that death did not occur was entirely a matter of good fortune," Judge Williams said

He has sentenced Amati to a maximum of nine years behind bars, with a non-parole period of four years and six months.