4 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Nicola Sturgeon's legacy may be defined by Isla Bryson
Nicola Sturgeon has said she was 'like a rabbit caught in the headlights' when asked if double rapist Isla Bryson was a woman.
In her new book, the former first minister said she was 'completely blindsided' when the case prompted a public outcry.
'I had no advance warning that the case was pending,' she wrote in Frankly. 'To this day, I do not understand how no one in the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) or Scottish government officialdom thought it important to flag it up to me.'
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Bryson was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow in 2023 of raping one woman in Clydebank in 2016 and another in Glasgow in 2019. He began identifying as a woman only after being charged and has not legally changed gender.
Although the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service expected Bryson to be sent to Barlinnie, the SPS initially moved him to the women's prison at Cornton Vale.
It was only after a backlash, and Ms Sturgeon's intervention, that Bryson was transferred to HMP Edinburgh.
The row came just weeks after MSPs passed the controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. Although the Bill never became law, the SPS had for years allowed prisoners to self-identify their gender.
Which is why nobody flagged it to the first minister.
Despite the Bryson scandal, subsequent policy changes, and the Supreme Court case, the SPS continues to house dangerous, biological men in the women's estate.
Its post-Bryson 2023 Policy for the Management of Transgender People in Custody states that a transgender woman 'will not be eligible to be considered for admission or transfer to a women's prison' if convicted of serious offences such as murder, assault, robbery, abduction, rape, and sexual harassment.
However, the policy includes an exception: the SPS Risk Management Team can approve transfers if there is 'compelling evidence' the prisoner does not present an unacceptable risk.
What is unacceptable risk?
Research by the Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM) policy collective found that prisoners currently in the women's estate include Alan Baker (also known as Alex Stewart), convicted of murder in 2013 and held in the female unit at Greenock prison.
So too is Richard McCabe, also known as Melissa Young, who was convicted of murder in 2014.
While on remand at Cornton Vale, they assaulted a female officer, biting her stomach
Peter Laing, who now goes by the name Paris Green, was also convicted of murder and torture in 2013.
They were still in the female estate in 2024 and recently charged with assaulting a female guard.
Do these prisoners represent acceptable risk?
The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) helped draft the new SPS policy.
MBM has repeatedly called on the SHRC to withdraw its submission. In June 2023, they were told their request was being considered. Despite chasing in August and October 2023, they received no reply.
As reported in The Herald, they wrote again in April 2025, following the Supreme Court case, renewing their call.
Almost three months later, SHRC executive director Jan Savage responded.
Part of the delay, she said, was due to the prison service. On May 22, 2025, the SHRC wrote to the SPS asking how it was monitoring the impact of its policy, whether it had published data, if the policy would be reviewed, and if it collected information on sex and gender.
More than two months on, the SPS has yet to reply. When asked, an SPS spokesperson told me: 'We value the important role of the Scottish Human Rights Commission and will respond to their correspondence in due course.
'We have received the Supreme Court's judgement and are actively considering its impact.'
With Frankly, Ms Sturgeon attempts to define her legacy. The truth is, the chaos in Scotland's public sector, and Scotland's prisons in particular, could well define it for her.
