Transgender rapist Bryson jailed for eight years

A JUDGE told the transgender rapist Isla Bryson that he was not “the victim in this situation” as the 31-year-old was jailed for eight years.

Bryson, who committed the attacks while still known as Adam Graham, was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday.

Lord Scott said that while medical reports suggested that Bryson was “vulnerable”, in part due to traumatic childhood events, this was “no excuse” for raping two women who had been “systematically” targeted.

Bryson claimed during the trial that he had known he was transgender at age four, although this was later questioned by his wife and mother, who said he had shown no interest in transitioning. Bryson only began living as a women after being charged with rape.

The case was seen as contributing to the end of Nicola Sturgeon’s political career, after the double rapist was initially sent to a female prison under a Scottish Prison Service (SPS) policy that followed the same principle as her gender self-id laws.

The legislation has been blocked by the UK Government, while the SPS has scrapped its own rules after an outcry. Bryson was moved to a male jail following an outcry, although Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly refused to say whether she believes the rapist to be male or female.

Sentencing Bryson, Lord Scott said it was clear that Bryson would pose a “particularly significant risk to any woman with whom you form a relationship”. He said he had constructed “an alternative account of events” in which the two victims colluded together, and continued to deny the crimes.

The claims of a conspiracy were “without any foundation” and had been rejected by the jury, he said.

“You see yourself as the victim in this situation,” Lord Scott said. “You are not. Regardless of your own vulnerability, in a period of just under three years, you raped two women who can both be regarded as vulnerable.”

Edward Targowski KC, for the defence, told the High Court in Edinburgh that Bryson had been subjected to “ill-judged, ill-informed and ignorant” comments about his decision to undergo gender reassignment. He said this included references to Bryson’s “dead name” of Adam Graham.

The lawyer also told the court that Bryson had decided to change his gender many years ago and had been given “maximum” amounts of medication to help achieve this at the Sandyford Clinic, a specialist clinic in Glasgow.

However, Bryson’s estranged wife, Shonna Graham, has described claims to identify as a woman as “a sham”.

Bryson was placed on the sex offenders’ register and will be supervised for three years after release.

♦ JK Rowling has said attempts to silence her in the trans debate are “meant to serve as a warning to other women”. On the abuse and threats she has had since speaking out, the Harry Potter author said: “The pushback is often, ‘You’re wealthy, you can afford security, you haven’t been silenced.’ All true. But I think that misses the point.”