Latest news with #genderpolicy
Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Killer's criminal record ‘wiped clean' after self-identifying as woman
A killer's criminal record was 'wiped clean' after they self-identified as a woman, it has emerged. The SNP's 'reckless' gender policy has been blamed for an administrative mistake that led to a murderer's criminal record being 'cleaned'. The Crown Office and Police Scotland are now under pressure to investigate the 'serious lapse' amid concern the case may not be isolated. The bungle was discovered after a solicitor requested a previous convictions disclosure on prosecution witnesses in a case involving alleged conflict inside HMP Greenock. The witnesses included the trans woman Alex Stewart, who went by the name Alan Baker before being convicted of murder in 2013. Prior convictions for all witnesses were provided, except for Stewart, who appeared to have a clean sheet. Sharon Dowey MSP, Scottish Conservative shadow minister for victims and community safety, warned: 'This appalling shambles, which will rightly enrage the public, demands full accountability and transparency from the Crown Office and Police Scotland. 'This won't be an isolated case' 'We already have dangerous male offenders cynically gaming the system to serve their sentences in women's prisons, and that number is only likely to rise if they spot an opportunity of having their records wiped via this ruse. 'Scotland's justice system, like all our public bodies, has been in thrall to the SNP's reckless gender policy, which the Supreme Court has ruled unlawful. 'We urgently need a directive from John Swinney to public bodies telling them to uphold the Supreme Court ruling.' Pauline McNeill, Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman, added: 'There should be no way to erase a criminal record and we need to ensure there are policies in place to ensure that is the case.' Dr Kate Coleman, of the campaign group Keep Prisons Single Sex, said their research had shown that individuals who switched gender 'are awarded uniquely enhanced individual privacy rights which enable exactly this sort of thing'. She added: 'This won't be an isolated case – this is standard practice north and south of the border. 'It has widespread ramifications, including for safeguarding and the operation of Disclosure Scotland checks. For years we have been calling for urgent changes – not just for the recording of data, but the handling and disclosure of data.' The Daily Record said the scandal came to light during the case of the hairdresser Jayney Sutherley, who killed a man with a pair of scissors. Sutherley, 51, was acquitted at Greenock Sheriff Court last month of carrying out a four-year campaign of transphobic and homophobic abuse against Stewart, 33, and lover Nyomi Fee, 37, a child killer. Both are serving time for murder in HMP Greenock, where Stewart was sent from a male prison after deciding to self-identify as a woman. When disclosure requests were made by Sutherley's defence solicitor, Paul Lynch, for both killers, they returned an accurate record for Fee but a blank sheet for Stewart. A correction was only made after the Crown was told that Stewart was appearing in the witness box as a prisoner and serving a life sentence for murder. A new search under the killer's former name revealed their criminal history, including a conviction for the murder of John Weir, 36. 'Wicked and brutal' attack In Jan 2013, Alan Baker, 25, invited Mr Weir into his home in Bonhill, West Dunbartonshire, before stabbing him at least 16 times. He claimed to have acted in self-defence but was convicted of murder and attempting to cover up his crime. In Aug 2013, at the High Court in Glasgow, Baker was told he must serve at least 19 years in jail before being eligible for parole. Judge Lord Boyd told Baker he was guilty of a 'wicked and brutal' attack. A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: 'Although the initial witness check showed no previous convictions, on further inquiry by the Procurator Fiscal this was corrected prior to trial. 'Information about previous convictions is provided to COPFS by the police following a check of the relevant databases. 'COPFS have asked Police Scotland to review and confirm the processes for recording and sharing information on previous convictions.'
Telegraph
13-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS trust in trans row ‘must ban men from women's lavatories immediately'
A nurse who complained about a trans doctor using a female hospital changing room has challenged NHS chiefs to drop their gender self-ID policy 'immediately'. Sandie Peggie said she expected NHS Fife to dump its policy of 'permitting any man who identifies as a woman access to female-only single-sex spaces', following April's Supreme Court ruling on the issue. In a statement issued on her behalf by her solicitor, she welcomed the court's conclusion that trans women are not women and access to female-only areas should be based on biological sex. Ms Peggie said she was 'determined' to continue her employment tribunal against the health board so it is accountable for its decision to discipline her 'simply because she objected to sharing a female-only workplace changing room with a man'. NHS Fife decided that Dr Beth Upton, who was born male but identifies as a woman, had a right to access the female staff changing room in Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy. Ms Peggie also thanked the public for its 'overwhelming support' and set out plans to visit the Scottish Parliament to meet MSPs who have backed her case, ahead of the tribunal resuming in July. The nurse's comments on the Supreme Court ruling were her first since it was issued on April 16. They came the day after The Telegraph disclosed that Scotland's health boards, including NHS Fife, have yet to act on the court judgment, despite it coming into effect immediately. NHS Fife said it would not review or update its gender policies until after a new code of practice is issued this summer by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). But the equalities watchdog issued interim advice on the court ruling last month stating that access to single-sex facilities in workplaces and public services should be based on biological sex. The EHRC also warned that the ruling takes effect 'immediately' and noted that the judgment was 'very readable', suggesting that it was clear what action was required. Margaret Gribbon, Ms Peggie's solicitor, said the nurse 'very much welcomes' the judgment. She said Ms Peggie 'salutes the courage and tenacity' of feminist campaign group For Women Scotland for 'doggedly' taking the Scottish Government to the UK's highest court and for its support with her own case. 'She is determined to continue with her legal claim in an effort to obtain accountability for the way she has been treated by Fife Health Board, simply because she objected to sharing a female-only workplace changing room with a man,' Ms Gribbon said. 'She now expects NHS Fife to immediately stop permitting any man who identifies as a woman access to female-only single-sex spaces in the workplace.' The solicitor said Ms Peggie 'continues to draw strength and inspiration' from the support she has received from around the world and expressed her thanks to politicians 'from across the political divide' for their backing. She also said the nurse had been 'moved' by one of the Darlington nurses disclosing at the weekend that being forced to share a changing room with a trans colleague made her relive the experience of being sexually abused by her father. Karen Danson, 45, is one of eight nurses who sued County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust after it allowed Rose Henderson, who was born male, to use women's changing facilities. Ms Peggie reiterated her support for them. The Scottish Parliament responded to the Supreme Court ruling this week by banning trans women from using female-only spaces in the Holyrood building. Alison Johnstone, the presiding officer, said that the parliament had to act to 'fulfil our legal responsibilities'. But the SNP Government has refused to order the rest of Scotland's public sector to scrap its self-ID policies until the EHRC issues its final guidance. Tess White, the Scottish Tories' shadow equalities minister, said: 'After the decisive Supreme Court verdict, the public will rightly ask why NHS Fife is still pursuing this costly case against her while remaining wedded to a divisive gender self-ID policy. 'However, the reason Sandie Peggie has had to make this call is because John Swinney (the First Minister) is still shamefully refusing to issue a clear public sector directive requiring organisations to uphold the law.' Trina Budge, a director at For Women Scotland, said: 'It is ridiculous that this practice continues after the very clear Supreme Court ruling, there's absolutely no reason why it couldn't have been resolved by now. 'I can't imagine many taxpayers will be happy to foot the bills for the forthcoming compensation claims unless the NHS takes prompt action to restore both staff and patients rights to single sex provision.' An NHS Fife spokesman said: 'Following the recent Supreme Court ruling, NHS Fife continues to await further expected guidance from the Scottish Government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission on its implications for NHS organisations across Scotland.' He said Ms Peggie's determination to pursue her legal action meant that the board 'shall be required to continue to defend the case through the appropriate legal process'.
Telegraph
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Nicola Sturgeon: I do not need to apologise to women after Supreme Court ruling
A defiant Nicola Sturgeon has refused to apologise for her gender policy after the Supreme Court ruled trans women are not women. The former first minister said she did not need to say sorry to women for legislation tabled by her government that would have allowed biological men to change legal gender by simply signing a declaration. In her first substantive comments on the April 16 ruling, Ms Sturgeon said feminists who took the Scottish Government to court did not represent 'every woman in the country'. She claimed women with concerns about self-ID were outnumbered two-to-one by those who 'have a different view' about the policy. 'Lives could become unliveable' Although she said she accepted the court's ruling, she warned the manner in which it will be 'translated into practice' could make 'the lives of trans people almost unliveable'. She said she would be 'very concerned' if interim advice issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that only biological women can use female-only safe spaces 'became the final guidance'. But Joanna Cherry KC, a former SNP MP who opposed self-ID, accused Ms Sturgeon of branding women who opposed self-ID as 'bigots' and said her behaviour had been 'a disgrace'. Ms Sturgeon's intervention came during her first appearance at the Scottish Parliament since the ruling. The Glasgow Southside MSP has been accused of going into hiding and 'moral cowardice' for failing to respond to the judgment. Ms Sturgeon's only previous comments on the landmark ruling have been that that 'my views are well known', after she was tracked down at an SNP event in Glasgow. Her government's controversial Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill introducing gender self-ID was passed at Holyrood but vetoed by the UK Government over concerns it undermined women's safe spaces. But it has emerged that swathes of Scotland's public sector adopted self-ID all the same, allowing trans people access to female toilets and changing rooms. Experts have warned these practices will have to be scrapped following the Supreme Court's ruling that the definition of a woman is based on biological sex, and does not include trans women. Ms Sturgeon has previously claimed some opponents of the GRR Bill were transphobic. In January 2023, the month before she stepped down as first minister, she said: 'You'll also find that they're deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well.' 'I fundamentally disagree' Asked about calls for her to apologise to Ms Cherry and For Women Scotland, the group that brought the court case, Ms Sturgeon said: 'On both of those I fundamentally disagree, fundamentally and respectfully disagree.' Pressed why she should not say sorry, the former first minister insisted that 'all opinions' were taken into account before the GRR Bill was passed with the support of MSPs across all parties. She added: 'I've always actually recognised the different views on this, but I think it's important that respect runs in both directions. 'For every woman that I know or who contacts me, and I appreciate that that is not every woman in the country, for every one that contacts me or who I know personally with concerns about this, there are probably another two who have a different view. 'So for any group or any individual, me included, to say that their view is the only view that carries weight or the only view that has support, I just think is fundamentally (wrong).' Ms Sturgeon also claimed the court ruling was only 'purportedly' about women's rights, emphasising that she was using this 'word deliberately.' Although she said she accepted it was 'the law of the land', she denied her government had been acting unlawfully and said the question was whether it could be implemented in a manner that protected women while allowing 'trans people to live their lives with dignity'. 'I think that remains to be seen. I think some of the early indications would raise concerns, in my mind that we are at risk of making the lives of trans people almost unliveable,' she told reporters at Holyrood. 'I don't think the majority of people in the country would want to see that. It certainly doesn't make a single woman any safer to do that, because the threat to women, as I think we all know comes from predatory and abusive men.' The interim EHRC advice states that 'trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women's facilities' and vice versa, 'as this will mean that they are no longer single-sex facilities.' The equalities watchdog's final guidance is due to be published by the summer and Ms Sturgeon said she hoped this was not the same as the interim version because of the impact on trans people. 'Nicola Sturgeon betrayed women' Rachael Hamilton, the Scottish Tory deputy leader, said: 'Nicola Sturgeon betrayed women and divided Scotland with her reckless gender self-ID policy, yet she still can't bring herself to apologise. 'For years she arrogantly dismissed the concerns of women and girls that their rights and safety were being sacrificed, as she parroted the views of extremist gender activists and ensured they were adopted across Scotland's public sector. ' Gender self-ID was always nonsense – and now the Supreme Court has declared it unlawful too.' Ms Cherry, the former Edinburgh South West MP, tweeted: 'Nicola Sturgeon is trying to rewrite history (again) but I & all the women who fought to protect our rights haven't forgotten that she called our views 'not valid' and branded us bigots etc. Her behaviour was a disgrace & an existential threat to our democracy.' Susan Smith, a For Women Scotland director, asked whether Ms Sturgeon cared that 'self-ID policies made women's lives unliveable'. She said: 'Women's dignity, privacy, and safety were compromised daily and many self-excluded from hospitals and rape crisis centres, or withdrew from sports. 'Polling makes it very clear that most people support the ruling but we suppose that a woman who can't even bring herself to acknowledge that double rapist Isla Bryson is a man, is capable of any level of self-delusion.'
