Jody Matthew Burke, who identifies as a woman – and now calls herself Amber – since being convicted of sexual assault with a weapon and making death threats against his ex-wife, was rushed to hospital on Tuesday night , a few hours before knowing his sentence.
According to a prison source, Burke allegedly self-harmed in the testicles.
He is currently hospitalized at the Sacré-Coeur hospital, confirmed his lawyer during representations before Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné in the morning.
Burke has said since being convicted on multiple counts that he wants to begin a gender transition. However, he had not yet started this transition.
Burke had apparently had access for some time to a contraband cell phone at the Montreal Detention Facility (Bordeaux). He has used it to get in touch with a relative in recent days, who confirmed to La Presse that Burke had threatened to remove his testicles. This person wished not to be named.
Burke, who has been incarcerated since his 2017 arrest, also created a Facebook page, which he recently used to complain about a prison manager who allegedly refused his transfer to a women’s prison.
Burke’s lawyer, Me Véronique Talbot, declined to comment on our information.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné was to pronounce his sentence today, but the prisoner’s hospitalization makes it unlikely.
A forensic report conducted to assess his level of risk for recidivism stated that Burke threatened to commit suicide “if he were to be sentenced to life [and forced] to live his trans lifestyle surrounded by men in a [male] prison environment. “.
More details to come.
