Sturgeon U-Turns on Sending ‘Trans’ Double Rapist to Women’s Jail After Outcry
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a press conference in Edinburgh
InternationalIndiaAfricaJames TweedieScottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon claimed it was not “possible” for a rapist to be locked in an all-female jail — overlooking the case of transsexual child molester Katie Dolatowski, who was transferred from a men’s to a women’s prison last year. Scotland’s First Minister has U-turned on sending a double rapist — who began identifying as a woman after he was charged — to a women’s jail.Nicola Sturgeon told the devolved regional parliament in Holyrood on Thursday that Isla Bryson, who was known by his birth name Adam Graham before his first court appearance on two rape charges in 2020, would be transferred out of the Cornton Vale prison in Stirling following a “risk assessment,” probably within three days.”I don’t think it’s possible to have a rapist within a women’s prison,” Sturgeon claimed, before adding that “This prisoner will not be incarcerated in Cornton Vale women’s prison — short term or long term.”But her comments were belied by the incarceration of transsexual paedophile Katie Dolatowski to the same jail late last year. Dolatowski, convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in a supermarket toilet in Kirkaldy, was transferred after beating up a fellow inmate in the canteen of a men’s prison.The first minister’s wording was also potentially vague, as Cornton Vale is set to close at the end of February for refurbishment, while a new prison in Stirling is set to open in the summer.Sturgeon’s announcement was a U-turn on the position taken on Wednesday by the devolved administration’s justice secretary Keith Brown, who backed the Scottish Prison Service’s decision to house Bryson in the women’s estate while he awaits sentencing on February 28.”A predatory double rapist being held in a women’s prison for any length of time is dangerous,” said Scottish Conservative MSP Tess White. “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?”The prison service’s decision contradicted earlier reports that the convicted rapist, who does not hold a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) allowing him to be legally considered female, would not be sent to Cornton Vale.”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,” said Jamie Halcrow Johnston, another Scottish Tory MSP.
WorldUK Gov’t Decides to Block Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill16 January, 20:44 GMTBryson was convicted on Tuesday of raping two women he met on social media sites in 2016 and 2019. Defence barrister Edward Targowski KC claimed Bryson was not a “predatory male” and was just as “vulnerable” as his two victims, and even argued that his new gender identity “goes a long way to acquitting her of these charges.”Bryson was photographed attending the High Court in Glasgow wearing tight women’s leggings which clearly outlined the shape of his penis, along with hair or a wig that covered his prominent facial tattoos. Photos of his previous appearance were circulated on social media.On Thursday, it was reported that Scotland, with just 5.5 million residents, already had six transgender inmates housed in its women’s jails — the same as in England and Wales, which have a combined population more than 10 times greater — and that half only began identifying as female after they were convicted.Cornton Vale houses up to 119 women prisoners, plus up to seven with small children at a separate mother and baby unit.
WorldScottish Trans Rape Suspect is ‘As Vulnerable’ as Two Women Accusers, Defence Claims24 January, 13:28 GMTSturgeon and her Scottish National Party (SNP) have come under fire since Bryson’s conviction from Scottish women’s groups and the Conservatives, the biggest opposition group in Holyrood. They have blamed the “utterly perverse situation” on new legislation passed by the SNP and its coalition partners the Scottish Greens — with support from Labour and Liberal Democrats — just a month earlier.The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRR) would allow people as young as 16 to obtain a GRC after just three months living under their new identity, without the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The SNP and Greens voted down a Conservative amendment that would have disqualified sex offenders from applying.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he will invoke powers in the 1998 devolution legislation to prevent the bill from gaining royal assent, needed for it to become law. Sturgeon has in turn threatened a legal challenge to that decision.
