Scotland's Justice Secretary has refused to intervene to ensure that a transgender woman convicted of raping two women while she was a man is not held in a women’s prison.
Keith Brown was called to the Scottish Parliament today to answer an urgent question on the case of Isla Bryson, who was yesterday found guilty of two counts of rape at the High Court in Glasgow.
It is understood she is being held at Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling while awaiting sentence for the crimes, which she committed before she began transitioning to become a woman.
It comes after the UK Government blocked controversial gender reform legislation in Scotland which would speed up and simplify the process for trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC).
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay asked Brown at the Scottish Parliament: "Yesterday a double rapist was sent into a women’s prison … this scenario was exactly what I tried to stop during the passage of Nicola Sturgeon’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill but I was voted down by the narrowest of margins.
"With the flawed Bill in limbo, violent criminals are exploiting the system and putting women at risk, so can the Cabinet Secretary tell me why does the SNP government think that any rapist should be allowed inside a women’s prison?
Brown replied: "Of course the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, had it not been stopped by another government, completely wrongly, would not have changed the Scottish Prison Service’s approach to trans prisoners, which is not dependent on possession of a GRC (gender recognition certificate).”
He said the SPS’s approach will continue to be based on the “assessment of risk”, unlike in England and Wales where it is determined by a GRC.
Findlay called on the Scottish Government to “direct the SPS to block this rapist and any others from women’s prisons”.
Brown said he trusts the SPS to decide on the appropriate venue for trans prisoners.
Speaking earlier, SNP MP Joanna Cherry said she was "very concerned about the safety of women prisoners, with whom a convicted rapist has been placed".
Downing Street has also expressed "concerns" about the possibility transgender women Isla Bryson, who was convicted of raping two women, could be held in a women’s prison.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: "This is a case in which the courts are yet to hand down a sentence so I’m not going to give anything on the specifics. I’ve seen the reporting and understand the concerns."
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