Transgender double rapist Isla Bryson leaves women’s prison after 48 hours and is put behind bars in an all-male unit after Nicola Sturgeon was forced into screeching U-turn
- Transgender rapist has been pictured leaving Cornton Vale jail in Stirling today
- Nicola Sturgeon said she believes it’s not possible to have rapist in a women’s jail
- 24 hours earlier her justice secretary backed Scottish Prison Service’s decision
Transgender rapist Isla Bryson has today been moved out of Scotland’s only all-women’s prison to a male jail within hours of a humiliating U-turn by Nicola Sturgeon.
Bryson, named Adam Graham until 2020, was removed to a male wing of a prison this afternoon. A vehicle believed to be transporting Bryson was pictured leaving Cornton Vale jail in Stirling at around 2.30pm and it arrived at a replacement facility at 5.20pm.
The SNP leader revealed the U-turn just 24 hours after her own justice secretary Keith Brown backed the Scottish Prison Service’s decision to put the transgender double rapist with female inmates in Cornton Vale.
Bryson’s estranged wife Shonna Graham, 31, told MailOnline her former partner’s transition was a ‘sham for attention’ and he was ‘bull******** the authorities’ to avoid a male prison. Critics said the rapist was a threat to female inmates.
A prison van believed to be transporting Isla Bryson to a men’s prison was pictured leaving Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling at 2.30pm this afternoon
The vehicle is understood to have reached the new facility at around 5.20pm
Today Ms Sturgeon revealed the abuser – who was born a man, still has a penis and only began transitioning after being charged with rape – would be moved out of the all-female prison after just two days there.
The First Minister did not say where Bryson will be sent but her spokesman later confirmed it would ‘not be on the female estate’. Ms Sturgeon told First Minister’s Questions: ‘I don’t think it’s possible to have a rapist within a women’s prison’.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said today: ‘It should not have taken public disgust and a slew of negative headlines about a double rapist being sent to a women’s prison for Nicola Sturgeon to realise this was completely unacceptable and wrong.’
Meanwhile, Mr Ross accused Ms Sturgeon of ‘hiding behind’ the Scottish Prison Service when she suggested it was responsible for the decision.
Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed Isla Bryson will not remain in a women’s prison while speaking to the Scottish Parliament today
Isla Bryson, 31, (right), who was born Adam Graham (left), was convicted of raping two women while a man. After two days at a women’s jail the rapist will be moved to a male prison
Revealed: SNP’s flip-flopping over Isla Bryson decision
Tuesday: Bryson is convicted for the rape of a woman in Clydebank, East Dunbartonshire, in 2016 and a rape against a second woman in Drumchapel, Glasgow, in 2019. She is moved to Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling for sentencing.
Wednesday: Following an outcry from women’s campaigners, Number 10 weighs in to express concern about the placement, with Rishi Sunak’s spokesman saying he ‘understands the concerns’.
However, SNP Justice Minister Keith Brown expresses his confidence in the Scottish Prison Service and refuses to intervene. He adds that the controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill would have no implication on which prisons transgender people are held in.
Thursday: In a ‘screeching’ u-turn within 24 hours of Mr Brown’s comments, Nicola Sturgeon announces that Bryson will be transferred from Scotland’s only all-women’s prison to a male jail.
At First Ministers’ Questions, he cited rules that grant ministers the power to direct ‘supervision levels’ criteria for prisoners, and this must be reviewed ‘within 72 hours of reception’.
Scottish Tory MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston said: ‘It is shameful that Nicola Sturgeon refuses to admit that her government – and her own SNP ministers – have allowed a double rapist to be held in a women’s prison.’
His colleague Tess White added: ‘A predatory double rapist being held in a women’s prison for any length of time is dangerous.
‘An SNP minister defended the decision one day – then Nicola Sturgeon backtracked the next. What would have happened if there hadn’t been a public backlash?’
Ms Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament: ‘The risk assessment is under way. However, as in all cases, the Scottish Prison Service will not wait until an assessment is completed if they think action is required more quickly – and this prisoner is not going to be incarcerated in Cornton Vale women’s prison.
‘In terms of the interim situation, and how the situation I said there is going to be achieved, I’ve got to be mindful of allowing the Scottish Prison Service to do their operational job and to do that properly.’
Referring to the Bryson case, Ms Sturgeon confirmed: ‘This prisoner will not be incarcerated in Cornton Vale women’s prison – short term or long term’.
Late, the First Minister told journalists that no ‘formal direction’ had been given to the prison service by the Government on where Bryson should be imprisoned.
A source told BBC Scotland after it emerged the rapist would be moved that Ms Sturgeon ‘believes that is the right call’.
The row has engulfed the Scottish Government and its First Minister, whose controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill — which would allow anyone over 16 to ‘self-identify’ as the opposite sex without needing medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria — has not yet been legally ratified.
Amid protests about the decision to send Bryson to Cornton Vale, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘It would not be appropriate for me in respect of any prisoner to give details of where they are being incarcerated.
‘But given the understandable public and parliamentary concern in this case I can confirm to parliament that this prisoner will not be incarcerated at Cornton Vale women’s prison. I hope that provides assurance to the public.’
Bryson only started to transition after appearing in court on the rape charges.
MPs and MSPs warned that female inmates could be at risk and the move sent a signal that male sex offenders could ‘game the system’.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the way to First Minister’s Questions where she performed the U-turn
Transgender rapist Isla Bryson was sent to a women’s prison despite carrying out the crimes as a man and transitioning after being charged
It came as a retired governor of Cornton Vale jail declared today that if she were still in charge and had to take in sex attacker Bryson, she would quit.
Ex-governor of Scottish women’s prison ‘would have quit’ if she’d been told to house transgender rapist with female inmates
Rhona Hotchkiss believes it is ‘appalling’ that the 31-year-old was sent to the all-female jail after being convicted of raping two women while still a man named Adam Graham.
Bryson is being held at Scotland’s only full female jail while risk assessments are carried out ahead of sentencing on February 28.
Critics said the abuser is a danger to women and the case has prompted calls for Ms Sturgeon’s stalling Gender Recognition Reform Bill to be reviewed.
Miss Hotchkiss is an ally of JK Rowling and director of the author’s Beira’s Place project – a ‘woman-only’ sexual violence support service in Edinburgh that does not cater for trans women.
The retired prison boss said: ‘This [Isla Bryson] would have been a resignation issue for me. I am absolutely clear about the fact that they should be in a male prison – you simply cannot have someone like this terrorising women.
‘It’s appalling. The thought that a double rapist can identify his way into a women’s prison should shock everyone.
‘The other shocking aspect is, the Scottish parliament could have chosen to legislate against that happening and they didn’t.’
Rhona Hotchkiss (bottom right) is a director of the women-only sexual violence support service Beira’s Place in Edinburgh, which will not cater for trans women. It is funded by Ms Rowling, who is a director with (left to right back row) Susan Smith, Johann Lamont and Margaret McCartney
Miss Hotchkiss told LBC Radio: ‘Before I left I was in a very difficult situation where I was refusing to force female staff to search male-bodied prisoners and I was told that I would be making life very difficult for myself.
The smirking rapist now sitting in a female prison proves our legal system has sacrificed vulnerable women at the shrine of trans rights, writes JULIE BINDEL
‘Had I not been going to take early retirement anyway, I would have stayed and pursued that. But today, this would have been a resignation issue for me.
‘I have no doubt this is a red line I would not have crossed and as the governor of Cornton Vale I would have refused to have this person in my prison.’
Scotland’s First Minister was questioned at a press conference on Monday at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh about appalling signs at the Rally for Trans Equality in Glasgow on Saturday.
Police Scotland has said it is investigating after reports into a sign at the rally.
SNP MP Kirsten Oswald and her party colleague, MSP Kaukab Stewart, were pictured with signs in the background calling to ‘decapitate TERFs [trans-exclusionary radical feminists]’.
Miss Hotchkiss tweeted of Ms Sturgeon: ‘Women have been telling her for years that violent misogyny is a cornerstone of trans ideology & she’s been ignoring us. She still is’.
It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab slammed Ms Sturgeon over the prison scandal.
Downing Street showed ‘concerns’ about the Scottish government putting the male-bodied rapist in a women’s prison.
The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said he had ‘seen the reporting and understands the concerns’ over the decision to let the transgender woman be held in a women’s prison despite raping two women.
Mr Raab tweeted such a move would not happen south of the border, after the Government overhauled rules to stop transgender sex offenders from being held in women’s prisons.
Under the changes, Mr Raab said transgender women who had committed sex crimes or retained male genitalia could not be held in women’s prisons except in the most exceptional cases authorised by ministers.
Both Downing Street and the Ministry of Justice revealed they were powerless to stop the Scottish government’s move as criminal justice is a devolved responsibility.
The decision has no wider impact on the UK’s equality laws or practices in English and Welsh jails.
A government source told The Telegraph: ‘The point is that we are taking a more common sense approach. We are going further in our reform of the prison rules in a way that the public would expect to ensure that prisoners get the safety they would expect behind bars.’
Labour’s confusion over transgender double rapist as MP says sex predator ‘deserves respect and support to transition safely’ – while fellow party MP Yvette Cooper warns ‘dangerous’ attacker ‘should not be in a women’s prison’
A Labour MP today sparked fury as she insisted double rapist Isla Bryson deserves ‘respect’ to ‘transition safely’ to a woman after being placed in a women’s jail, declaring: ‘We need to just be fair’.
Paulette Hamilton, who represents Erdington in Birmingham, has said that Bryson must have the same support as the female prisoners experts believe the sex attacker poses a danger to at Cornton Vale prison in Stirlingshire.
She said: ‘This gentleman transitioning to a female, we’re a democratic country – we have to treat him fairly. We have to respect that he is transitioning to a woman’.
Labour has been accused of being ‘all over the place’ on gender and Yvette Cooper tried to give frontbench clarity on the issue today declaring it is a ‘dangerous’ decision not to place Bryson in a male jail.
Paulette Hamilton, a Birmingham Labour MP, said that rapist Isla Bryson should be given the support necessary to ‘transition safely’ to become a woman as Yvette Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary, said it ‘should be straightforward’ that someone who has committed crimes against women shouldn’t be housed with women
But asked how she would deal with the case, Labour’s Paulette Hamilton said: ‘For myself as an MP in a constituency where I have a number of people who have contacted me that are transitioning. I think all they want us to be is just fair towards them. We need to just be fair and he has a fair hearing’.
Times Radio presenter Jane Garvey said: ‘The person has had a fair hearing and has been found guilty of two rapes’ before co-host Fi Glover said: ”I think a lot of people feel uncomfortable knowing who is the more vulnerable whose rights need to be respected the most’.
Ms Hamilton responded: ‘So what are you trying to get me to say? I’m going to be honest with you because I’m not going to tell you ‘we’re gonna kill him because he wants to be transitioning’.’
She added: ‘I have to say I would be more concerned about the women in this circumstance if you are asking me outright. But saying all of that, transitioning he will get the support he needs to ensure that he transitions safely’.
This morning Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was clear that the transgender rapist should be sent to a male prison after being accused of ‘gaming the system’ by self-identifying as a woman after being charged as Adam Graham.
Ms Cooper told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘This dangerous rapist should not be in a women’s prison’.
And in an attack on Nicola Sturgeon after the Scottish First Minister refused to move the transgender double rapist, she said: ‘It should be clear that if someone poses a danger to women and committed crimes against women they should not be being housed in a women’s prison.
‘That is straightforward and I think most people would agree with that.’
Labour has been accused of having accused of having a problem with women with Sir Keir Starmer famously refusing to say last year if ‘a woman can have a penis’. He later clarified that the ‘vast majority’ of women do not have a penis, causing yet more confusion.
Downing Street said yesterday it has ‘concerns’ about the Scottish government putting a male-bodied rapist in a women’s prison and Ms Cooper said the same in stronger terms.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said he had ‘seen the reporting and understands the concerns’ over the decision to let transgender woman Isla Bryson – formerly known as Adam Graham – be held in a women’s prison despite raping two women.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted that such a move would not happen south of the border, after the Government overhauled rules to stop transgender sex offenders from being held in women’s prisons.
Under the new changes, Mr Raab said transgender women who had committed sex crimes or retained male genitalia could not be held in women’s prisons except in the most exceptional cases authorised by ministers.
Both Downing Street and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) revealed they were powerless to stop the Scottish Government’s move because criminal justice is a devolved responsibility.
Former Cabinet minister Lord Blunkett said this week the opposition must treat people with respect but not do anything to undermine women’s rights.
He also went against party policy by backing the UK Government’s decision to block Scotland’s radical self-ID reform that would have allowed 16-year-olds to legally change sex.
As the damaging row over Labour’s ‘woman problem’ continued, it emerged that its chief whip had told backbencher Lloyd Russell-Moyle to apologise for shouting down and trying to intimidate two female MPs, including one from his own party.
Labour defended its MP, Rosie Duffield, who likened her membership to being in an abusive relationship, after briefings that she spent too much time with fellow women’s rights campaigner JK Rowling.
Lord Blunkett, who served as home secretary and education secretary under Tony Blair, made his critical comments on the BBC’s Politics Live programme yesterday [wed].
He said that ministers had been right to use the so-called Section 35 order for the first time to stop Scotland’s transgender reforms becoming law, even though Scottish Labour voted for them and Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the veto was unnecessary.
Lord Blunkett went on: ‘I’m sick and tired of identity politics, having to debate it over and over again.’ He said respect and genuine equality were needed, adding that Mr Russell-Moyle was right to apologise to Tory MP Miriam Cates for ‘expressing a perfectly reasonable point of view’ on safeguarding.
And he said it was ‘just not acceptable’ for convicted rapist Adam Graham to identify as a woman and be sent to a women’s prison in Scotland.
Last night Miss Duffield spoke out again on Labour’s woman problem.
She told Talk TV it is ‘kind of mad’ and ‘dystopian’ that Sir Keir cannot say if women can have penises, and that she had ‘no idea’ what he personally believes on the topic.
She suggested that the party leader felt unable to defend her because of pressure from student groups and activists, and said part of the problem was that Labour had so many men in senior posts.
Asked what her message to Sir Keir was, she replied: ‘I think I’d like him to listen to women’s groups. I’d like to know that he’s met with those people that are really concerned about this.’
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