The mum of transgender double rapist Isla Bryson has said the jailed predator’s eight-year sentence is not long enough. Janet Bryson, a rape survivor, claimed the convicted sex attacker at the centre of a political storm should have been handed a 20-year term.
Janet, 63, the victim of a sex attack at age 23, said: “To be handed eight years but possibly be out walking the streets in just four years is appalling and not much of a deterrent to anyone. I was raped so I know what these women suffered and for that, despite being my son, I cannot forgive him for what he’s done.
“Those two women had to suffer a horrendous attack, the memory of which will probably never leave them for the rest of their lives. They then had to go through a court case and tell complete strangers the intimate details of what happened while their attacker sat there and denied everything.
“Eight years is not enough when you think about what he put those women through. He should have been given 20.”
Bryson, 31, was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of raping one woman in Clydebank in 2016 and another in nearby Drumchapel in 2019 – while known as Adam Graham. The former DJ had first appeared under his male name but, while on bail, had started to identify as a woman and appeared for trial under the name Isla Bryson.
Last week Bryson, from Clydebank, was sentenced to eight years at the High Court in Edinburgh with a further three years on licence. The conviction sparked huge political and public outrage after the rapist was initially taken to Stirling women’s prison Cornton Vale as per Scottish Prison Service guidelines.
Bryson was then moved to the male estate and is now understood to be in HMP Edinburgh. The court had heard Bryson is taking hormones and seeking surgery to complete gender reassignment having felt transgender at four years old.
Janet said she was never aware of Bryson’s desire to transition growing up. She is horrified Bryson, who is deemed to be at “high risk” of reoffending, could be eligible for parole under early release laws as soon as January 2027.
The mum of three, who last saw her child six years ago, said: “My son never said he ever wanted to be anything different growing up.”
All prisoners serving determinate long-term sentences are eligible to be considered by the Parole Board for Scotland for release from the halfway point of their sentence. The Parole Board may recommend release if they feel the individual does not pose an unacceptable risk to the public.
Janet, who lives in Hamilton, already had a daughter when she first met Bryson’s father, Adam Binnie Bryson, who she married
in 1992, a year after their son was born. She claimed her late husband was often violent and abusive and she’d regularly leave him and then return.
Janet said she stayed in regular contact with her youngest and had no idea Bryson had married Shonna Graham in July 2016 and taken her surname. She last saw Bryson at the end of 2016 when they had celebrated Hogmanay together.
The row over Bryson’s placement at the all-female jail came as another dangerous transgender prisoner, Tiffany Scott, was set to be transferred to a women’s jail. It was just six weeks after the Scottish Parliament passed the controversial Gender Recognition Reform Bill – designed to make it easier for people to change their gender.
The UK Government has blocked the legislation but Nicola Sturgeon, who is standing down as FM, had said she intended to challenge the decision in court.
The Scottish Prison Service carried out an urgent review of the Bryson case and made recommendations that include initially placing all new transgender prisoners in accommodation determined by to their birth gender.
Bryson was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
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