JK Rowling has waded in on a trans row over cat killer Scarlet Blake who was given a life sentence for the murder of Jorge Martin Carreno yesterday.
The 26-year-old, who will serve at least 24 years in a male prison, targeted the 30-year-old BMW worker as he walked home from a night out in Oxford on July 24, 2021, after being inspired by the Netflix documentary Don’t F*** With Cats.
Award-winning journalist Louise Tickle, who was written for The Guardian for over 20 years, has boycotted the newspaper after it initially failed to tell its readers that Blake was transgender in an article covering the case.
Now, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling — who has been vocal about her views on transgender issues — has hit back at Sky News for similarly referring to Blake as ‘a woman’ in an article headline.
Sharing the video on ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, the author used the caption: ‘I’m sick of this sh*t. This is not a woman. These are #NotOurCrimes.’
Scarlet Blake, 26, received a life sentence for the murder of 30-year-old Jorge Martin Carreno
J.K. Rowling — who has been vocal about her views on transgender issues — hit back at Sky News for referring to Blake as ‘a woman’ in an article headline
BMW worker Mr Carreno (pictured) had been on a night out when he was approached by Blake
The headline by Sky News read: ‘BREAKING: A woman who filmed herself killing a cat before putting the animal in a blender has been jailed for life for murdering a man four months later.’
The community notes option, where readers can add context to a post, said: ‘Scarlet Blake is an adult male who identifies as a transgender woman. The omission of this crucial detail in the reporting gives the false impression that this was a crime committed by a woman.’
In a letter to the editor of The Guardian, Ms Tickle said she would not be contributing to the newspaper until it could ‘demonstrate’ what ‘constitutes a fact’ and ‘stops deceiving its readers’.
She explained that upon reading the article about Blake last week, she was left unaware that Blake was a ‘male killer’ because the word ‘transgender’ was not included in the piece.
The Guardian included a note on its article to state: ‘This article was updated on 23 February 2024 to add further details and biographical information, including reference to Scarlet Blake’s transgender identity, which were not included in the agency copy on which our initial version relied.’
Some people on social media agreed with J.K. Rowling’s comment. One user said: ‘Words matter. Especially ones as fundamental as ‘woman.”
Another wrote: ‘How can anyone trust the press to be telling the truth when whopping great lies like this getting to be a regular occurrence?’
But others criticised JK Rowling for being transphobic: ‘This woman put a cat in a blender and your first reaction is to be transphobic, Joanne babes have a day off.’
The court previously heard Blake had an ‘extreme interest in death and in harm’ and killed the family pet after watching a Netflix documentary called Don’t F*** With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer
Police believe Blake would have got away with the sadistic murder had she not later had a bitter falling out with Ashlynn Bell (pictured)
A sick picture captures transgender killer Scarlet Blake relishing the moment she puts a cat in a blender
Blake live-streamed the killing and dissection of a cat four months before she targeted Jorge Martin Carrenoas he walked home from a night out in Oxford in July 2021.
She admitted dissecting the animal, removing the fur and skin and placing it in a blender but blames her former partner Ashlynn Bell.
Police believe Blake would have got away with the sadistic murder had she not later had a bitter falling out with Bell – who then contacted detectives at Thames Valley Police to reveal that she knew of a ‘murder confession’ from Blake.
It was only then – almost two years after Jorge’s death – that police finally learned of how she had warmed up for her attack on him by making a four-hour video of herself slaughtering a neighbour’s cat.
Blake had an ‘extreme interest in death and in harm’ and killed the family pet after watching a Netflix documentary called Don’t F*** With Cats: Hunting An Internet Killer, Oxford Crown Court heard.
For almost two years the UK investigation into Carreno’s death in a park in July 2021 had stalled – with no witnesses coming forward with any relevant information.
All police had to go on was the shadowy figure seen walking alongside Carreno as they headed towards a beauty spot known as Parson’s Pleasure in the early hours of the morning shortly before he was found dead.
It was only when ‘out of the blue’ Bell contacted UK police to reveal Blake had confessed to the murder – and even sent her the combat jacket she had worn on the night of the killing – that the investigation took off.
Detectives flew to Colorado to take Bell’s statement – and her bombshell evidence quickly led police to realise Blake was that shadowy figure seen with Jorge.
This prompted the arrest of Blake at the home she shared with her medical researcher mother in a quiet cul-de-sac in Marston, Oxford.
Prosecutors said Blake had deliberately set out to kill after previously revelling in the slaughter and dissection of a neighbour’s cat.
While her partner Bell watched from her home in the US, Blake live streamed cutting up the cat while it was still alive.
A vet determined it would have been in extreme pain until its heart was ripped out.
Police would later find the heart in a trinket box that Blake kept as a souvenir.
The global hit documentary series, ‘Don’t F*** with Cats, follows the crimes of Luka Magnotta – who started out by torturing and killing animals before graduating to a human victim.
Prosecutors told Oxford Crown Court Blake ‘copied’ the actions of Magnotta who published a series of videos suffocating kittens on the internet before going on to kill a computer technician.
The jury have been told that, like Magnotta, Blake started with an animal victim, some four months before strangling and pushing Mr Carreno into a river.