Man charged after trans rapist Isla Bryson alleges ‘abuse’ in prison

A man has been charged in connection with alleged threatening and abusive behaviour after transgender double rapist Isla Bryson claimed to have suffered “abuse” while in prison.

Bryson, from Clydebank, was jailed for eight years in February for raping two women.

The attacks were carried out in 2016 and 2019 while Bryson, who was born Adam Graham, was living as a man.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Around 11am on Thursday 8 June 2023, we received a report of a hate crime at HMP Edinburgh.

“A 24-year-old man has been charged in connection with threatening and abusive behaviour. A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”

The arrest comes as Bryson, who is in prison in Edinburgh, claimed in a letter sent to the Sunday Mail: “I’m not doing too good because of abuse from the staff members, all because I am transgender, and other prisoners too.

“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.”

Bryson’s case sparked outrage after the rapist was initially kept in an all-female prison, forcing an intervention from the Scottish Government.

The then first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told MSPs that “this prisoner will not be incarcerated at Cornton Vale women’s prison”, with Bryson moved to the male prison estate.

Sturgeon made clear at the time that there is “no automatic right for a trans woman convicted of a crime to serve their sentence in a female prison”.

Speaking in February she said that each case is “subject to rigorous individual risk assessment” in which the “safety of other prisoners is paramount”.

The key findings of an urgent review found that Bryson was housed in a segregation unit at the all-female jail and orders from the governor meant there was no contact with other prisoners.

It also found “at no time during this period were any women in SPS care at risk of harm as a consequence of the management of the individual”.

Recommendations made by the review, which was completed at the end of last week, include improved communication within the justice sector and the creation of a “shared justice process” for the admission of transgender people into prisons.

In addition to the recommendations, the SPS is also undertaking a full multi-disciplinary case review for each transgender person in custody. The service is also continuing to progress a review of the management of trans prisoners as part of its GIGR Policy Review.

Until these reviews are complete any transgender person in custody who has a history of violence against women – including sexual offences will not be relocated from the male to female estate.

Additionally, newly convicted or remanded transgender prisoners will be placed in an establishment that aligns with their birth sex.