A transgender student occupying Northcote House was deadnamed by the Head of Security

While taking part in the Northcote House occupation on Tuesday, a transgender student was deadnamed (deadnaming is the act of referring to a transgender person's birth name instead of their chosen name) by the head of security, who had no way of knowing the student's name.

The Head of Security, Richard Heath, called the deadname of the protestor in front of dozen of other students who were taking part in the investigation.

The Tab can confirm that video footage of the event has been seen, however the student does not want it published for the sake of anonymity.

Event took place during a conversation between students occupying the building, Head of Security and Registrar. It has been recorded by occupiers and student stated that they will likely be making a formal complaint and investigate how their personal data could be accessed by both Richard Heath and registrar.

There has been speculation on Twitter that university security may have run face recognition software on pictures of occupiers and compared it to students records, however this has not been confirmed.

After trying to reach Richard Heath several times, we asked spokesman from the University to comment on the issue. While they denied running face recognition they did confirm that Richard Heath indeed used the dead name, even though "It was an honest mistake and he was unaware it was not their real name."

Here is full statement: “There is no truth whatsoever in the allegation that Mr Heath or anyone else at the University has run protestors’ faces through a face recognition system and compared it to students’ records.

"This has not happened and nor does the University possess such technology. Mr Heath was simply told this was the student’s name. It was an honest mistake and he was unaware it was not their name.

"He apologised personally twice to the student in question, immediately after it happened and in the front of other students the following day. On both occasions the apology was accepted.”