A man has been charged in relation to hate offences after a complaint was made to Police Scotland by a trans identified male who is serving time for the rape of two women.
Isla Bryson who identifies as a woman and changed his name from Adam Graham reportedly said that he was suffering transphobic abuse at the hands of staff and fellow inmates at HMP Edinburgh.
The Times reports a 24 year old man has been charged in relation to the allegations which were made by Bryson on the 8th of June according to a spokesperson from the Scottish police.
Bryson hit headlines last earlier this year after he was remanded to Stirling’s Cornton Vale, a women’s prison, after he began identifying as female.
He was convicted of raping two women on dates in 2016 and 2019 with reports that he had met his victims via dating apps.
In a letter sent to the Sunday Mail Bryson claimed that his human rights were being breached at the prison saying, “They are breaking the human rights laws. I’m not doing too good because of abuse from the staff members all because I am transgender and other prisoners too.”
He continued, “This jail is full of transphobic people. The police are involved because of the abuse to do with my gender. People won’t stop being transphobic.”
The Sunday Mail also reported that Bryson asked to be paid £1,000 in exchange for an interview saying, “Whatever I say you will make me out to be a monster” adding, “so this way I get something out of it”.
Earlier this year Scotland’s political landscape was rocked after a decision was made to allow trans-identified males to be housed in women’s prisons.
After immense pushback changes were made the UK law which barred prisoners with male genitalia and a history of violence from accessing women’s estates.
The Ministry of Justice in Britain announced the changes will apply to transgender women guilty of violent or sexual offences as well as transgender women with male genitals.
Gript’s Maria Maynes previously reported that the row exposed a growing sense of concern about the potential dangers posed by biological males in women’s jails in Britain, as it was revealed there were a total of 230 trans prisoners in England and Wales in the year to last March.
More than 90 percent of trans prisoners in the UK are transgender women housed in men’s prisons according to the UK government, and most do not request a move to a women’s prison. There is also currently no obligation to move transgender prisoners according to their wishes. Trans women who do not hold a Gender Recognition Certificate are initially sent to a male prison as a matter of course in England and Wales.
The new rules will cover all trans women with male genitalia, and will apply regardless of whether transgender prisoners hold a gender recognition certificate. In addition, transgender women convicted of sexual assaults as well as those jailed for violence, will no longer be held in mainstream women’s prisons.
Offences that fall into this category will include attempted murder, murder, assault with intent to cause serious harm or with injury, harming a child, endangering life, and harassment.