Isla Bryson, a 31-year-old transgender individual, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for raping two women while still identifying as a man named Adam Graham.
Bryson was convicted last month of assaulting one woman in Clydebank in 2016 and another in Drumchapel, Glasgow, in 2019. The sentencing was carried out at the High Court in Edinburgh, with an additional three years on license.
The case sparked controversy after Bryson was initially placed in an all-female prison but was later transferred to a male facility due to public outcry.
In response, Scottish Justice Secretary Keith Brown called for an urgent review of the case, and the Scottish Prison Service made the decision to halt the transfer of all transgender prisoners with a history of violence against women to female prisons.
During the trial, it was revealed that Bryson met both victims online and took advantage of their vulnerability. The first victim testified that Bryson raped her for half an hour, while the second victim stated that Bryson continued to have sexual intercourse with her despite her protests.
Judge Lord Scott described the crimes as “considerable” and warned Bryson that a significant sentence was inevitable. Bryson denied the charges, stating that she would never harm another human being.
Bryson claimed that she had known about her transgender identity from the age of four but only began to go by the name Isla after the charges.
The court heard that Bryson is currently undergoing hormone therapy and seeking gender reassignment surgery. Bryson has three minor convictions on her record, but none of them required a prison sentence.
