Transgender woman convicted of rape not allowed to serve sentence in women’s prison

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A transgender woman convicted of rape will not be allowed to serve her sentence in a women’s prison.

Isla Bryson, from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, committed the crimes against two women before she transitioned to female.

A six-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow heard she raped two women – one in Clydebank in 2016 and one in Drumchapel, Glasgow, in 2019 – after meeting her victims online.

On Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament Bryson would not be imprisoned at the all-female Cornton Vale prison in Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon spoke at First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood amid a row over where Bryson should be detained.

The Scottish first minister confirmed a risk assessment was being carried out by the Scottish Prison Service but stressed Bryson would not be held at Cornton, near Stirling.

She told ministers: “It would not be appropriate for me in respect of any prisoner to give details of where they are being incarcerated.

“But given the understandable public and parliamentary concern in this case I can confirm to parliament that this prisoner will not be incarcerated at Cornton Vale women’s prison.

“I hope that provides assurance to the public.”

During her trial, prosecutors said Bryson had “preyed” on vulnerable women.

The court heard Bryson was going through the breakdown of an unhappy, brief marriage when she went to stay with her first victim at the victim’s mother’s house in Clydebank in 2016.

On the night of the rape, Bryson locked the victim’s bedroom door and raped her for half an hour, despite pleas for her to stop.

“All I said was ‘no’ over and over and over again,” she said.

“At the time I was so scared. Sick to the stomach. I just didn’t know what was going on.”

She said Bryson later threatened to harm her family if she told anyone.

The second victim, a 34-year-old who met Bryson on a social media app, told the court Bryson continued to have sex with her after she told her to stop.

The pair met days after they began chatting and the day after first meeting in June 2019, they watched soaps together at her home in Drumchapel.

The victim said Bryson removed her pyjama bottoms and then performed a sex act, which she consented to, but she then asked Bryson to stop.

Bryson raped the woman, who told her to stop because she was “crushing” her.

The victim’s police statement said Bryson instead told her to “stay there” because “he [Bryson] wasn’t finished”.

“I said to stop but he [Bryson] just kept on going, and that’s when I just closed my eyes and I am doing what he wanted to do,” the victim told the court.

Giving evidence in her defence, Bryson claimed both women had consented to having sex.

She said she knew she was transgender at the age of four but did not make the decision to transition until she was 29. She is currently taking hormones and seeking surgery to complete gender reassignment.

She said in 2016, when the crimes happened, she was “struggling with my sexuality and having issues emotionally”.

The jury unanimously found Bryson guilty of raping the second victim, with a majority agreeing she raped the first woman.

Judge Lord Scott told Bryson: “You have been convicted by the jury of two extremely serious charges; those being charges of rape.”

He told her the crimes are “considerable” and that “a significant sentence is inevitable”.

Bryson was remanded in custody until 28 February when she is to be sentenced.