Scottish Prison Service publishes new policy on the management of transgender people in custody
Transgender prisoners with a history of violence against women and girls can be placed in the female estate if there is “compelling evidence” they do not present an “unacceptable risk of harm”, a new policy has stated.
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has published its Policy for the Management of Transgender People in Custody.
No transgender woman with a history of violence against women and girls (VAWG) can currently be housed in the female estate.
The interim arrangements for admission were introduced earlier this year following a public outcry over the controversial Isla Bryson case – which saw a transgender woman initially placed in the female estate after being found guilty of raping two women.
The interim approach will continue until the new policy officially comes into force on 26 February 2024.
The SPS’s new “individualised” policy will see transgender women initially placed in the male estate until sufficient information is known on whether they can be admitted in accordance with their chosen gender.
If placing them in the female estate “gives rise to unacceptable risks that cannot be mitigated”, inmates will not be placed in a women’s prison.
Offences against women and girls that will be taken into account include murder; culpable homicide; assault; robbery; abduction; threatening personal violence; rape; sexual harassment, bullying and intimidation – including in the workplace; commercial sexual exploitation – including trafficking, prostitution, lap dancing, stripping and pornography; and breach of the peace.
Transgender prisoners that have been convicted, remanded or are awaiting sentencing for those types of offences will not be eligible for admission to a woman’s prison “unless the risk management team, and subsequently the executive panel, are satisfied there is compelling evidence that they do not present an unacceptable risk of harm to those in the women’s prison”.
Speaking to Sky News, the chief executive of the SPS said she is “confident” the updated policy will address any concerns about violent transgender women being placed into the female estate.
Teresa Medhurst said: “With a trans woman, if we have information that suggests that they are a risk and pose a risk to others because of previous history of offending related to violence against women or girls, then they will be assigned into the male estate.
“If we don’t have sufficient information in which to make that assessment or decision, then they will go to the male estate as well.”
Ms Medhurst said the situation with transgender men is “slightly different” and decisions will be taken on where they can be managed safely.
She explained that if there’s a lack of information, “they will move into the female estate until the initial case conference can be held and we can look at all of the information that we have or can gather in relation to risks, needs, as well as their rights”.
The SPS said the policy aims to support the rights of transgender people, the welfare of others in custody, as well as prison staff.
Where SPS has insufficient information about an individual who is arriving into custody, they will be admitted in accordance with their sex at birth.
SPS also retains the ability to admit and accommodate individuals with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) in accordance with their sex at birth, if it is considered necessary to support people’s safety and wellbeing.
Only when staff have enough information to reach a decision that a trans individual can be safely accommodated will they be placed in an establishment which matches their affirmed gender.
The policy will also allow for inmates to be searched by officers of their affirmed gender or their sex assigned at birth, if it is necessary to keep the individual or staff safe.
The SPS will take into account their background and history of offending when making a decision on where they will be placed.
Ms Medhurst said SPS will look at how far along the inmates are in transitioning and what kind of medical support they have been accessing.
She added: “So, we’ll use all of that information around both their journey as well as their behaviours, their current offence, previous offending, and any other information that is known about the way that they’ve been behaving and presenting whilst in the community.”
The new policy was developed following extensive engagement and input from experts in violence against women, men and women in custody, transgender people, those who have experience of managing transgender people in custody, and a broad range of community organisations.
The policy review came under the spotlight following the case of transgender double rapist Isla Bryson, who was jailed earlier this year for attacking two women.
The attacks were carried out in 2016 and 2019 when Bryson, who was born Adam Graham, was living as a man.
Adam Graham before transitioning to Isla Bryson
An urgent case review was ordered by Scotland’s then justice secretary after Bryson was initially housed in segregation at Cornton Vale women’s prison near Stirling while awaiting sentencing.
Bryson was quickly moved into the male estate following a public outcry.
The review concluded that women were not at risk from harm as a consequence of the management of Bryson.
Isla Bryson arriving at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this year
Ms Medhurst accepted that there was a lot of public interest over the Bryson case but said she could not discuss individual inmates.
She added: “There was a lot of public interest, a lot of parliamentary interest, and therefore I am confident that the new policy will address those concerns and ensure that there is continued public confidence in how we operate as an organisation – because we have more than 20 years of managing transgender men and transgender women in custody.”
Read more from Sky News:
Transgender double rapist complains of ‘transphobic abuse’ in prison
Man abducted and sexually assaulted schoolgirl while dressed as a woman
Ms Medhurst highlighted that the SPS oversee the “highest risk and most vulnerable people in our society” on a daily basis, and staff manage that risk “extremely effectively”.
Ms Medhurst said: “Transgender men and transgender women in custody are a very small minority and they can be extremely vulnerable.
“And what we need to do is balance and manage those vulnerabilities, the risks and the rights in a way that protects everyone within our prisons – so those who live there and those who work there.
“And that’s what this policy will deliver.”
Four people have been charged after £7m of damage was caused to two Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton.
The investigation into the incident early on Friday 20 June was led by counter-terror police.
They have been charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK – and conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
Two Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton were damaged. PA file pic
The four charged have been identified as:
• Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, of no fixed abode
• Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 35, from London
• Jony Cink, 24, of no fixed abode
• Lewie Chiaramello, 22, from London
They will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later today.
A 41-year-old woman arrested last week on suspicion of assisting an offender has been released on bail until 19 September.
Meanwhile, a 23-year-old man detained on Saturday was released without charge.
Last month’s incident at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire was claimed by the activist group Palestine Action.
Yesterday, MPs voted to proscribe the group as a terrorist organisation.
The legislation passed with 385 MPs voting in favour, while 26 were against.
UK
No 10 backs Chancellor Rachel Reeves and says she ‘is going nowhere’ after tearful appearance in Commons
Rachel Reeves has not offered her resignation and is “going nowhere”, Downing Street has said, following her tearful appearance in the House of Commons.
A Number 10 spokesperson said the chancellor had the “full backing” of Sir Keir Starmer, despite Ms Reeves looking visibly upset during Prime Minister’s Questions.
Politics latest: ‘A moment of intense peril’ for PM
A spokesperson for the chancellor later clarified that Ms Reeves had been affected by a “personal matter” and would be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.
Politics latest: Reeves looks visibly upset in Commons
UK government bond prices fell by the most since October 2022, and the pound tumbled after Ms Reeves’s Commons appearance, while the yield on the 10-year government bond, or gilt, rose as much as 22 basis points at one point to around 4.68%.
Downing Street’s insistence came despite Sir Keir refusing to guarantee that Ms Reeves would stay as chancellor until the next election following the fallout from the government’s recent welfare U-turn.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded the chancellor the “human shield” for the prime minister’s “incompetence” just hours after he was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn over his controversial welfare bill.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Badenoch said: “This man has forgotten that his welfare bill was there to plug a black hole created by the chancellor. Instead they’re creating new ones.”
Turning to the chancellor, the Tory leader added: “[She] is pointing at me – she looks absolutely miserable.
“Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the chancellor is toast, and the reality is that she is a human shield for his incompetence. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?”
Not fully answering the question, the prime minister replied: “[Ms Badenoch] certainly won’t.
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Welfare vote ‘a blow to the prime minister’
“I have to say, I’m always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are.”
Mrs Badenoch interjected: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”
The prime minister’s watered-down Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill, aimed at saving £5bn, was backed by a majority of 75 in a tense vote on Tuesday evening.
A total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the bill – the largest rebellion in a prime minister’s first year in office since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair’s Lone Parent benefit in 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.
After multiple concessions made due to threats of a Labour rebellion, many MPs questioned what they were voting for as the bill had been severely stripped down.
They ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to Universal Credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.
Ms Badenoch said the climbdown was proof that Sir Keir was “too weak to get anything done”.
Read more:
The PM faced down his party on welfare and lost
Labour welfare cuts ‘Dickensian’, says rebel MP
Ms Reeves has also borne a lot of the criticism over the handling of the vote, with some MPs believing that her strict approach to fiscal rules has meant she has approached the ballooning welfare bill from the standpoint of trying to make savings, rather than getting people into work.
Experts have now warned that the welfare U-turn, on top of reversing the cut to winter fuel, means that tax rises in the autumn are more likely – with Ms Reeves now needing to find £5bn to make up for the policy U-turns.
Asked by Ms Badenoch whether he could rule out further tax rises – something Labour promised it would not do on working people in its manifesto – Sir Keir said: “She knows that no prime minister or chancellor ever stands at the despatch box and writes budgets in the future.
“But she talks about growth, for 14 years we had stagnation, and that is what caused the problem.”
Prosecutors are considering whether to bring further criminal charges against Lucy Letby over the deaths of babies at two hospitals where she worked
The Crown Prosecution Service said it had received “a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital”.
“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” it added.
“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”
Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital and is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.
Letby worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital
She is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student, between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.
Police said in December that Letby was interviewed in prison as part of an investigation into more baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.
A Cheshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Cheshire Constabulary has submitted a full file of evidence to the CPS for charging advice regarding the ongoing investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital as part of Operation Hummingbird.”
Detectives previously said the investigation was looking into the full period of time that Letby worked as a nurse, covering the period from 2012 to 2016 and including a review of 4,000 admissions of babies.
Letby’s lawyer Mark McDonald said: “The evidence of the innocence of Lucy Letby is overwhelming,” adding: “We will cross every bridge when we get to it but if Lucy is charged I know we have a whole army of internationally renowned medical experts who will totally undermine the prosecution’s unfounded allegations.”
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Three managers at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that three managers at the Countess of Chester hospital had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in a separate investigation.
Read more from Sky News:
‘Catastrophic failure’ that led to Heathrow power outage revealed
Man charged with murder of 93-year-old woman in Cornwall
Police said the suspects, who occupied senior positions at the hospital between 2015 and 2016, have all been bailed pending further inquiries.
There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.
A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.
In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.
Earlier this year, Letby’s lawyers called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.
In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.
Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
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