The SNP justice secretary has denied that violent stalker Tiffany Scott was on the verge of being transferred to a women's jail.
Keith Brown today defended the risk assessment process used by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) following an uproar over its handling of the cases of two transgender women.
He also clarified that five remaining transgender prisoners serving their sentences in a women's prison do not have convictions for violence against females.
The Scottish Government last night announced an "urgent review" had been launched by prison bosses of all transgender cases across the country. It means the movement of trans inmates between jails will be halted until the review is carried out.
The Record first reported how volatile Scott - who stalked a 13-year-old girl while known as Andrew Burns - was set to be transferred to a jail that aligns with her chosen gender.
She has been repeatedly refused the switch over several years but senior management had relented in recent weeks.
It was understood that the transfer was still planned even after Nicola Sturgeon last week announced a U-turn on a decision to house double rapist Isla Bryson at all-women jail Cornton Vale.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland today, Brown was asked if Bryson and Scott had tried to "game the system" by transitioning from male to female only after their arrests.
The SNP MSP said: "If somebody presents as a trans person then we accept that on face value. What we do not accept is that gives them a right to go to the prison estate of their choosing. We carry out a risk assessment with all the known facts."
Pressed on why Scott was given the go-ahead to move prisons, Brown added: "And you know that she was given the go-ahead, because I don't. As I understand it, the risk management authority, which is part of that process, has to give its verdict first and it hadn't done that."
He continued: "Instead of my view, or their view, lets rely on the experts who assess the risk of everybody in prison and who have a very good track record of doing that. The review is on-going and let's see what the review comes back with. We will consider any recommendations that were made."
Scott, from Kinglassie, Fife, is being held in segregation at HMP Low Moss, near Glasgow. She has assaulted inmates, security officers and female nurses in various jails. She self-harmed and opened veins with her teeth before squirting blood at prison officers.
Opposition politicians had this weekend demanded her transfer be halted following the uproar regarding the case of Isla Bryson. Bryson, from Clydebank, was last convicted of raping two women in 2016 and 2019 while she was known as Adam Graham.
She was initially remanded to Cornton Vale women's prison before being moved to a male wing at HMP Edinburgh. It is understood five transgender women are currently in housed in female prison units.
Asked if any of them had been convicted of violence against women, Brown said: "This changes on a regular basis, but my understanding is there are no transgender women in the female estate who have convicted of violence against women. I should also mention there can be exceptional circumstances, but these will only be approved my ministers."
Brown said the temporary ban would continue at least as long as the SPS review was carried out. Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray claimed the Scottish Government had "botched" the handling of the events of the past week.
"I think in all reasonable terms people would see the current issues that are going on around the Isla Bryson case as being unreasonable, and the Scottish Government really do need to sort this out because the Equality Act is clear that single-sex spaces, including women’s prisons, have got to be protected under the law, and it looks in this case as if people are being put in danger,” he said.
"I don’t think it does either the prison community, the Scottish Government, or indeed the trans community any favours whatsoever."
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
