Nicola Sturgeon refuses to move transgender woman convicted of rape in women's prison amid fears for female inmates

Pressure is building for Nicola Sturgeon to reverse a decision to allow a transgender woman to be held in a female prison, despite being convicted of raping two women.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said he had “seen the reporting and understands the concerns” over the safety of other female inmates.

Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary posted in a tweet that such a move would not happen in England and Wales after the Government amended rules to stop trans sex offenders from being held in women’s prisons.

Nicola Sturgeon is facing pressure to reverse a decision to allow a trans rapist in a women's prison
Andy Buchanan

Downing Street and the Ministry of Justice cannot stop the Scottish Government’s move as the criminal justice is a devolved responsibility.

Isla Bryson, previously known as Adam Graham and who transitioned only after being accused of the sex attacks, was found guilty of raping one woman in Clydebank in 2016 and another in Drumchapel, Glasgow, in 2019.

Joanna Cherry, one of Sturgeon’s MPs, said she was “very concerned about the safety of women prisoners, with whom a convicted rapist has been placed”.

She added: “Under Scots law, the crime of rape can only be committed by somebody with a penis, and that’s a man. I think we should call out what’s happened here.”

Keith Brown, the leader of the SNP’s justice secretary refused to use his powers to order Scottish bosses to move Bryson from Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling to a men’s facility.

He insisted that the decision was for the Scottish Prison Service which looks at case by case.

Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tories community safety spokesman, said: “Violent criminals are exploiting the system and putting vulnerable women at risk. No rapist should be allowed inside a women’s prison.”

Bryson, 31 is due to be sentenced next month and is facing a long prison sentence.

During the trial, it was claimed that the rapist had known about their trans status from the age of four but only began to be referred to as Isla after the charges.

Isla Bryson transited to a woman after being charged for rape
Andrew Milligan

Sturgeon told BBC Radio 4 that it would be wrong to comment on the case directly but transitioning did not guarantee a criminal a place in a women's prison.

"The fact of the matter is there is no automatic right for a trans woman convicted of an offense to go to a women's prison," she said.

"The Scottish Prison Service, which individually assesses all prisoners or potential prisoners, does detailed risk assessments that are about the safety of the individual prisoner [and] of those that will be around the individual prisoner.

"This idea that because somebody who may have committed crimes as a man - let's not lose sight of that although I'm not talking about the individual case - but then tries to change gender simply to avoid going to a man's prison, there is no such automaticity around that. This is about individual risk assessments."

She added: "The Gender Recognition Bill does not in any way change the system."