Sadistic killer set to get sex change op on NHS
A MURDERER is to become the first prisoner in Scotland to undergo full ‘gender reassignment’ surgery on the NHS.
Peter Laing – now living as Paris Green – is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting and torturing a man before beating him to death.
The 26-year-old has been living as a woman in prison for the past five years and is taking female hormones.
But now, in a move to help her ‘physical and mental wellbeing’, she is to become the first Scottish prisoner to receive sex-change surgery – funded by the taxpayer.
The operation, which normally costs around £20,000, is not performed in Scotland – meaning Green will be taken hundreds of miles south of the Border while being kept under constant guard.
The family of her victim criticised the decision, saying the surgery should not take place.
Green confirmed her procedure is going ahead in letters to The Scottish Mail on Sunday. Writing from the women’s wing of HM Prison Edinburgh, she said: ‘I am having the op pretty soon. The letter has went out to the surgeon asking him to take on my case.’
In November 2013, Green was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 18 years in prison after a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found her guilty of murder.
The court heard Green – along with Kevin McDonagh and Dean Smith – lured 45-year-old Robert Shankland to her flat in Glenrothes, Fife.
They tied him up and sadistically tortured him, beating him so badly they left a footprint on his neck. They also sexually assaulted him with a rolling pin.
Mr Shankland’s sister Pauline Bell, 46, said she had great sympathy with transgender people – but that Green had forfeited her rights by committing murder.
She added: ‘What she did was awful. She should not be getting the operation on the NHS. It’s not lifesaving treatment.
‘She took somebody’s life away and destroyed a family. She destroyed my mum’s life and now she is being given this treatment so she can feel better.’
Mr Shankland’s mother Mary, 74, said: ‘She shouldn’t get the operation. There’s folks needing vital treatment on the NHS and they’re not getting it – but they jump through hoops for her.’
A Scottish Prison Service source said: ‘If NHS specialists say full sex-change surgery is necessary for a prisoner’s physical or mental wellbeing, the only debate would be about how best to manage it.’
Last year, the SPS said it was holding a record 18 prisoners identifying as transgender in custody.
‘They jump through hoops for her’