Isla Bryson, a transgender rapist, was found guilty of raping two women while still a man and received an eight-year prison sentence.
At the High Court in Edinburgh, Bryson was given an eight-year prison term plus a further three years on probation. Pictures depict the double rapist, who changed gender while awaiting trial, hiding inside a prison van behind a blonde bob and a pink hooded sweatshirt.
The 31-year-old was found guilty last month of raping two women, one in Glasgow’s Drumchapel in 2019 and the other in Clydebank in 2016. Bryson, who committed the crimes while still a man and going by the name Adam Graham, met his victims online and, according to the prosecution, preyed on weak women.
After Bryson was initially kept in an all-female prison, the case caused a stir. Following this uproar, the criminal was sent to the male estate. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) halted the transfer of all transgender inmates with a history of violence against women to the female estate, and Scotland’s Justice Secretary Keith Brown demanded an urgent assessment of the situation.
That happened just after the devolved Scottish Parliament passed a bill to make it simpler for people to change their legal gender. Women’s rights advocates criticized the bill, claiming it would allow predatory men to enter single-sex areas like bathrooms.
Since then, the Westminster government has declared that it will oppose the change since it will have an effect on equality issues throughout the rest of the nation. The problem also reached a boiling point just before Nicola Sturgeon said she would resign as first minister of Scotland after almost ten years in office because she had grown too divisive.
Bryson continues to vehemently reject the crimes, according to Lord Scott, who highlighted this at today’s sentencing. He also claims the victims “colluded” to file charges.
The rapist, who appeared in court dressed in black leggings, a fluorescent pink jacket, and a blonde wig, was informed by the court that she is still working toward full gender reassignment and is receiving the maximum recommended doses of hormone prescription from Glasgow’s Sandyford Sexual Health Service clinic.
This, together with his troubled early years, according to defense attorney Edward Targowski KC, made Bryson vulnerable. The severity of the offenses, however, well outweigh, Lord Scott, Bryson’s mitigating circumstances.
He admitted that Bryson’s traumatic childhood experiences have made him somewhat sensitive, but he added: “You see yourself as the victim in this position. It’s not you.”
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Isla Bryson Claims Victims Consented to the Act
The second victim spoke in court via live video link, claiming that Bryson persisted in having intercourse with her despite her requests for him to stop. Bryson said during the trial that he began to identify as transgender at the age of four but did not decide to transition until he was 29 years old. The defendant insisted that both women gave their permission for sexual contact.
The rapist, who showed up in court wearing a blonde wig, black leggings, and a fluorescent pink jacket, was informed by the court that she is still working toward full gender transformation and is taking the maximum recommended doses of hormone prescription.
This, together with troubled early years, defense attorney Edward Targowski KC, makes his client vulnerable. Bryson’s decision to transition after the two rapes, according to him, was not “an afterthought cynically aimed to lessen the sentence.”
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