Now get men out of women's jails, says ex governor (2025)

Prison bosses are under pressure to immediately remove male-born trans inmates from female jails.

The demands come in the wake of the watershed court ruling that made it clear it is against the law to lock them up among women.

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that biological sex, not gender choices or paperwork, is the decisive factor in equality law.

It sent shockwaves across Scotland’s public sector organisations which will now have to update their guidance on single-sex spaces among other things.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has 16 transgender people in custody, latest figures show, with current rules allowing trans women to be housed in the female estate.

But now pressure is mounting on bosses to urgently rewrite its SNP enforced transgender policy following the landmark court ruling.

Rhona Hotchkiss, a former governor of Cornton Vale women's prison, said: ‘The Scottish Prison Service are looking at where they stand now and how their policies need to be revised.

‘It’s really easy, no males in female jails. That’s it.

‘There’s no complications here, there’s no finer points to be debated, the law is now clear: You cannot include biological men within the definition of woman.’

The latest rules surrounding trans inmates were implemented following the public outrage caused by the Isla Bryson scandal.

Named Adam Graham when charged, the double rapist then changed gender and when found guilty was sent to a women’s prison amid a huge outcry.

Yet, despite the uproar the new policy, which came into force in February 2024, still allowed trans women to be housed in female prisons.

The policy said that an individual will be placed in an establishment which matches their affirmed gender ‘only when staff have enough information to reach a decision that a trans individual can be safely accommodated’.

It said that ‘any transgender woman with a history of violence against women and girls, who presents a risk to women and girls, will not be placed in the women’s estate’.

Yesterday, the Scottish Prison Service refused to reveal where its trans prisoners were housed or how many were behind the bars in female prisons.

According to its own figures, there were 16 transgender prisoners at the end of December 31 last year.

However, trans murderer Paris Green, who was born Peter Laing, is reported to remain in the women’s prison estate despite being charged with assaulting a female prison officer.

Last month the killer admitted to assaulting the officer at HMP Edinburgh by forcibly pushing a door in August 2023 by ‘culpable and reckless conduct’, he was admonished and told not to offend again.

Green, who was given the go-ahead for gender reassignment surgery on the NHS in 2018, was not given any other penalty.

And Alex Stewart, who changed gender after being jailed for murder and had an Adam’s apple reduction, has lived at HMP Greenock as a woman since 2016.

The 36-year-old was called Alan Baker when he landed behind bars in 2013 for knifing father-of-two John Weir, 36, to death.

Prisons were intentionally targeted by trans lobby groups who wanted to see radical changes to gender policies.

In 2014 the SNP Government, then led by Nicola Sturgeon, first introduced a policy to accommodate transgender prisoners according to their chosen gender.

The move was influenced by the Scottish Trans Alliance, which was funded by the devolved administration.

The group deliberately targeted prisons turning them into a testbed for their ideology.

SNP ministers warmed to the demands for gender self-ID and in 2018, the then director James Morton, said that prisons had been deliberately targeted as a means of persuading other public bodies to follow its agenda.

In an essay for Trans Britain, he wrote: ‘We strategised that by working intensively with the Scottish Prison Service to support them to include trans women as women on a self-declaration basis within very challenging circumstances, we would be able to ensure that all other public services should be able to do likewise.

‘The learning from our prison work has made it much easier to assist other Scottish public services, such as NHS wards and schools, and to also respect trans people’s gender identities.’

Last night, Susan Smith, of the group For Women Scotland who were pivotal in securing this week’s gender ruling, demanded bosses act now.

She said: ‘These men never had the “right” to be in women’s prisons. The SPS has already broken its own guidelines by letting Paris Green remain in Polmont, in the women’s estate, after he assaulted a female officer.

‘I hope the women there take courage and challenge this appalling policy.’

MSP Liam Kerr, justice spokesman at the Scottish Conservatives, said: ‘Men do not belong in women’s prisons. This shouldn’t be a difficult message for the SNP to follow.

‘The onus is on SNP ministers to ensure that the Scottish Prison Service is following the law of the land which states that sex means biological sex and this should be reflected across all public institutions.’

A Scottish Prisons Service spokesman yesterday said: ‘We have received the Supreme Court’s judgment and are considering any potential impact it may have.’

It comes as the Equality and Human Rights Commission warned that NHS boards will be pursued if they do not follow new guidance on single-sex spaces.

Baroness Falkner, the Commission’s chairwoman, said the health service will be receiving guidelines after the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.

She said: ‘We’ve been speaking to the health service for an inordinately long time - we will now be asking them when they will be updating their advice.’

Currently the NHS guidance says trans people should be accommodated according to the way they dress, their name and pronouns.

But this is likely to be scrapped following the landmark ruling.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Supreme Court judgment has given clarity between two pieces of legislation passed at Westminster and we have accepted this in full.

‘Scottish Ministers have now written to the UK Government to seek an urgent meeting to discuss the implications of the judgment and the Social Justice Secretary will give a statement to the Scottish Parliament next week on the judgment, subject to Parliamentary approval. Ministers will also meet the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) next week.

‘The Scottish Government acted in good faith in our interpretation of both the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010; and our approach was guided by the published guidance of the EHRC.

‘The Supreme Court judgment explicitly references that this stance was consistent with EHRC advice and we note that that the EHRC are now reviewing their guidance to reflect the ruling.

‘We will continue to engage with the EHRC and other stakeholders and are fully committed to protecting everyone’s rights and ensuring that Scotland remains an inclusive country.’