As transgender

THE estranged wife of a transgender rapist last night mocked her decision to become a woman as ‘a sham’ to seek attention – and get an easier time in prison.

Shonna Graham married Adam Graham who, identifying as a man, went on to rape two women before changing his name to Isla Bryson to begin the process of gender reassignment.

On Tuesday, Bryson, 31, was convicted by a jury in Scotland and sent to a special wing of a women’s prison before sentencing.

But, speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Mrs Graham, 31, said she believes his transition – which came after he was charged and had appeared in court for the first time – is an act to make a mockery of the justice system.

She added: ‘Never once did he say anything to me about feeling he was in the wrong body or anything. I have a lot of sympathy for real transgender people – it’s a hard thing to live with – but he’s just bullsh*****g the authorities.

‘I believe his gender transition is a sham for attention and an easier life in prison. When I saw the photos of him dressed as a woman with a blonde wig and pink lycra leggings, I fell out of bed laughing.

‘I can see why he doesn’t want to be in a prison with loads of big scary men, so he’s come up with this ploy to get himself a much easier sentence.

‘But sending him to a women’s prison is outrageous. Will one of the vulnerable women inmates be the next victim to be attacked by him? He won’t stop – it’s in his nature.’

Bryson’s case has highlighted the controversy over Nicola Sturgeon’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRR), which would allow anyone over 16 to ‘self identify’ and seek a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) after living in their new gender for only three months and without needing a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

The Scottish Prison Service takes the decision on where to place trans inmates, looking at each case individually and not dependent on whether the person has a GRC or has undergone any physical transformation.

Yesterday, as Bryson was being held at Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling, there were calls for her to serve her sentence in a men’s

‘I hope they throw away the key’

prison. Scottish Nationalist Party MP Joanna Cherry told Times Radio: ‘Many women in prison have themselves been abused and have suffered injuries over the years. And so they’re particularly vulnerable... I’m very concerned about the safety of women prisoners, with whom a convicted rapist has been placed.’

Mrs Graham said she might go and visit Bryson wherever she ends up, if only to serve their divorce papers and finally end a marriage that effectively lasted less than two months.

‘I have been trying to divorce him for seven years, but I haven’t been able to find him to serve the papers. He’s a monster and I hope they throw away the key,’ she added.

She revealed she endured a year of abusive and controlling behaviour at the hands of Bryson, during which time she claims he stabbed her in the hip with a knife as he tried to rape her.

Mrs Graham met the shaven-headed Graham – who has a Mike Tyson-style face tattoo – on the internet dating app Badoo in 2015 and at first found him ‘caring and fun to be with’.

But after he moved into her flat in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, she soon saw a different side to him. ‘He was obsessed with controlling every aspect of my life,’ she recalled. ‘Even if I spoke to an elderly male neighbour, he’d be on my case accusing me of chatting him up.

‘One night we had a row and I went into the bedroom while he watched TV in the living room. Suddenly he burst in with a pink-handled kitchen knife and demanded sex.

‘I told him where to go and he pulled down my pyjama trousers and tried to rape me. Then when I’d pleaded with him to get off, I realised he’d stabbed me in the thigh.

‘There was blood everywhere, staining the carpet, but he delayed calling an ambulance for about half an hour and I remember I was starting to feel faint by the time they came.’

She added: ‘When we got to hospital, the police were called and they saw it as what it was – domestic abuse – but Adam had pleaded with me to say I’d tried to commit suicide and the wound was self-inflicted, which is what I did.

‘The police tried to convince me to give evidence against him but I wasn’t brave enough. Now I feel guilty because if I had, maybe he’d