Sheffield transgender woman hit in face with Prosecco bottle during terrifying homophobic attack

Isolde O'Shannon, 39, said things have been difficult for her since she made the transition as she constantly receives verbal and physical attack from unknown offenders, forcing her to keep moving from one place to another.

The latest attack, she said, happened when she was spending the night at her neighbour’s flat watching the election results on December 12 last year when several masked individuals kicked on the front door, shouting and causing disturbance.

“We heard a lot of banging, like someone was setting off fireworks, and my friend looked out of her window and saw a couple of masked people, kicking and pounding the front door.

“I’d gone out on the front door and shouted back and I managed to film the whole thing,” she said, adding that this was when one of the attackers threw a glass bottle in her face.

“One of them threw a little bottle of Prosecco and it hit me in the face. I couldn’t see with that eye and I regained some sight after an hour. It was only after a week I could gain full sight and I’m still suffering effects from it now.

“I think it’s come to my record as a detached retina, but the hospital told me that I may have suffered from retinal trauma,” she said.

Isolde, who is also autistic, said she has complained about previous attacks to the police and the council but she claimed not much progress has taken place since.

“In the end, I had the police registered me as a repeat vulnerable victim and the council put me on a house priority list and I ended up moving somewhere else.

“When I’m bidding on properties, instead of saying, ‘that looks like a nice place’, I’d go, ‘What if someone is trying to attack me? Can I get on to the other side during the attack?

South Yorkshire Police said an investigation has been launched into this particular incident and several lines of enquiry, including CCTV analysis and forensic work, are being actively pursued to find those responsible.