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Trans butcher charged in connection with schoolgirl’s disappearance ‘modelled appearance on JK Rowling’

A TRANS butcher charged over an 11-year-old girl’s disappearance was “trying to look like JK Rowling” during his gender swap, locals claimed yesterday.

Andrew Miller, 53, is said to have modelled himself on the Harry Potter author, 57, when calling himself Amy and wore garish women’s clothes and make-up around town.

Police have continued to guard a property in Galashiels
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Police have continued to guard a property in GalashielsCredit: Les Gallagher
Millers of Melrose butchers has been boarded up
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Millers of Melrose butchers has been boarded upCredit: Les Gallagher
The butchers shop had a signed photo of JK Rowling
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The butchers shop had a signed photo of JK RowlingCredit: Alan MacGregor Ewing

The superfan even had a signed picture of the writer in pride of place in the window of his butchers’ shop, which cops have since boarded up as they comb it for clues.

Miller was held after a 27-hour search for the child around Galashiels in Selkirkshire.

The butcher, who recently closed his shop in nearby Melrose, is expected to appear at Selkirk Sheriff Court today after being charged on Tuesday night.

A local said: “When he started being ‘Amy’, he really wanted to look like JK Rowling.

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“But he dolled himself up with a misogynistic view of what a woman looks like — all t**s and teeth, heavy make-up and styled hair.

“It wasn’t how you’d see a female dressed on a Saturday afternoon in Melrose.

"He stood out a mile around here and was Amy on the street and Amy at his work.”

The Millers of Melrose business was featured in Rowling’s 2015 crime fiction novel Career of Evil under her pen name Robert Galbraith.

A signed picture of her and a framed extract from the book remains in the window.

Miller had recently expressed  support for Holyrood’s gender self-ID Bill, writing on Facebook: “Silly Billys in Westminster...Never mess with Scottish Transgender Issues.”

Rowling fears predatory men will  abuse the bid to allow anyone aged 16 or over to change sex on their birth certificate in a six-month process simply by signing a legal declaration.

The local added: “Miller and Rowling are at opposite ends of the arguments around gender reform  and yet he’s got a signed picture of her in his shop window.”

A huge search was mounted after the schoolgirl was reported missing on Sunday.

On Monday locals, police and search and rescue teams scoured the town with cops saying they were “extremely concerned” for her welfare.

Villagers in Gattonside, Galashiels, revealed that the hunt ended with a child being seen wrapped in a blanket and carried out of a house two miles from her home.

A police  spokeswoman confirmed: "A 53-year-old man who had been arrested in connection with the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl from Galashiels has been charged.

“He is expected to appear at Selkirk Sheriff Court today.”

Chief Superintendent Catriona Paton said: “Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.

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"There will be increased high visibility patrols in the streets to provide reassurance to the public.”

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