EUAN McCOLM: Tormented by a justice system that puts the feelings of men before the rights of women

Daily Mail​

20-05-2025

The case of Adam Graham should have marked an end to the madness.
When the double rapist was sent to Cornton Vale women's prison in 2023, the backlash from the public was swift and fierce.
How on earth, people asked, had we reached the point where a man who had been found guilty of such horrific crimes could be imprisoned alongside vulnerable women?
The answer of course was that, thanks to the capture of Scotland's SNP Government - and countless public bodies - by radical trans activists, we were all expected to accept that, having changed his name to Isla Bryson, Graham was female.
This lie fell swiftly fell apart.
So angry were voters at the situation that Graham was moved to a men's prison. Shortly after that, the UK Government blocked the Scottish Parliament's attempt to allow self-ID for trans people on the grounds that it would negatively impact the UK-wide Equality Act.
Then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon demonstrated the utterly bewildering effect of gender ideology when she refused to say whether Graham was a man or a woman. This person, she said, was a rapist, as if that were a third sex.
The fallout from that case hastened the end of Ms Sturgeon's career, pushing her to step down as First Minister in March 2023.
One might have thought this would have focused the minds of politicians and bureaucrats who had bought into the farcical idea that men who declare themselves women should be allowed - indeed welcomed for their 'bravery' - into female-only safe spaces.
It did not. Rather, government ministers, fearful of a backlash from trans activists, preferred to pretend the whole messy situation hadn't happened, at all.
Last month's ruling from the Supreme Court that, according to law, sex is a matter of biology rather than feeling, has - finally - seen organisations corrupted by the unreasonable demands of trans activists begin to face up to the fact that a man who declares himself a women does not win the right to enter spaces - or win positions - which are, legally and for reasons of safety and fairness, meant for females only.
However, it has become abundantly clear that it will take time for the mess created by gender ideologues to be cleaned up.
Numerous organisations responded to the Supreme Court ruling by saying they would be taking time to 'consider' it. These arrogant responses show just how deeply embedded the idea that someone is whatever sex they say they are is embedded among bureaucratic elites.
There is, of course, nothing for them to consider. These organisations must simply ensure that they are complying with the law and if doing that provokes the anger of activists then, well, so what?
One organisation that we should have been able to trust to do the right thing, long ago, is the Scottish Prison Service.
For years, the SPS acted as if self-ID was already law and placed a succession of dangerous men in women's jails. The Graham case should have brought that to an end.
Yet, as a case held in Greenock Sheriff Court on Monday made clear, this is not so.
Jane Sutherley is currently held in HMP Greenock, having been convicted of culpable homicide in 2020.
Having taken another life, Sutherley got what she deserved. But she did not deserve to face court this week charged with transphobic harassment of a fellow inmate.
The court heard claims that Sutherley had left fellow prisoner Alexandria Stewart 'suicidal' after years of 'abuse'. Stewart, a biological male, was known as Alan Baker when he was jailed in 2016 for the murder of father-of-two John Weir.
The charges against Sutherley were found not prove by Sheriff Millar who pointed out, entirely reasonably, that someone can refer to a 'transgender person in their original biological state without being transphobic'.
That Sutherley ever faced charges in relation to anything she is alleged to have said to Stewart is an outrage. Stewart should not be in a women's prison, in the first place.
But we should be glad this week's case took place because it has exposed a real scandal.
Sutherley was dragged before the Sheriff on Monday on the basis of allegations levelled by Stewart and, Nyomi Fee, a fellow prisoner in Greenock - and Stewart's lover.
That's right. The Scottish Prison Service was concerned about the hurt feelings of a biological male involved in a romantic relationship with a woman while imprisoned.
Fee, 37, is currently serving a minimum sentence of 24 years for the murder of her two-year-old stepson, Liam. The child-killer and 36-year-old Stewart have been a couple since 2019.
My sympathy for Sutherley is limited but, as someone who believes that prison should be about rehabilitation as well as punishment, I'm horrified that she has - because of the bogus charges levelled against her - missed out on a number of opportunities to seek release on parole.
Astonishingly, the only witnesses against Sutherley were Stewart and Fee.
I wonder whether Sutherley - moved to Polmont after complaints from two murderers - would ever have seen the inside of Greenock Sheriff Court had she not been accused of that great contemporary crime of misgendering someone.
This is not simply a matter for the SPS. Justice Secretary Angela Constance and First Minister John Swinney should be taking an active role in ensuring that the relationship between Stewart and Fee is ended. This objective can be easily achieved by moving Stewart to a male prison.
And if the First Minister and his colleague think Stewart should remain with women, then let them explain to us all their reasons.
It is not currently known how many Scottish prisoners are held in facilities that do not align with their biological sex.
We do know, however, that trans killers Paris Green and Melissa Young remain in female prisons, despite the danger they clearly present to vulnerable women.
After Monday's court hearing in Greenock, a spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: 'Our staff work hard to support the health, safety, and wellbeing of all people living and working in Scotland's prisons. We have received the Supreme Court's judgment and are considering any potential impact it may have.'
What shocking complacency. The impact of the Supreme Court judgement should already have been felt.
No man, no matter how he identifies, should be held in a women's prison.
Jane Sutherley deserved to go to prison for her crime.
She did not deserve then to be tormented by a justice system that puts the feelings of men before the rights of women.