A transgender prisoner who has been locked up with women for six years says she fears she would not survive if she is moved to a men’s prison. Sophie Eastwood – who is serving life for murdering a male cellmate in prison in 2004 when she was still known as Daniel – has been held among female prisoners in Cornton Vale since 2017.
She believes she would be a target for sexual violence if she returns to the male estate. The Scottish Prison Service announced a full case review for every transgender person currently in custody in the wake of a public outcry following the case of Isla Bryson, a transgender double rapist who was initially sent to a female jail.
Eastwood, 38, said: “I was threatened by other prisoners in the male estate when I started to transition and the main threat was that I would suffer serious sexual violence. It was a relief to be moved to the female estate where I have felt safe and I’ve gained the trust of fellow prisoners. I think Scottish Prison Service staff manage trans prisoners well but it would be impossible for me to feel safe in a male prison.”
Eastwood added: “I have no history of gender violence. But the recent outcry has led to the SPS having to review every transgender person in custody. I believe I’m in the right place and don’t think I could survive in the male estate.”
The Scottish Government’s insistence on pushing through laws that allowed sex offenders to self-identify as women has put trans prisoners in the spotlight. Eastwood believes the case of Isla Bryson – who was known as Adam Graham when carrying out violent sex attacks on two women – has set back trans rights.
She added: “It’s really unfortunate because the public’s view of trans people generally has now been damaged but not by the behaviour of any trans person – by someone probably trying to exploit the system. As a result, genuine trans prisoners are now less safe than we were. No one can be 100 per cent certain how the reassessments will go when additional pressures have been introduced.”
Eastwood had been jailed for dangerous driving when she killed her cell-mate Paul Algie, 22, in 2004. A month before the due date for release from Dumfries Young Offenders Institution, Eastwood strangled Algie with shoelaces.
Eastwood was ordered to serve a minimum 15 years at the High Court in Glasgow but has now served 19. She has been living as a woman since she started to transition in 2017 and said she “deeply regrets” her violent crime.
She continued: “I was 18. To say I had unresolved issues would be a massive understatement. I was terrified about how I would cope on the outside.
“I thought that what I did would get me sectioned and I’d spend the rest of my life in hospital being looked after. That wasn’t a rational way to think. I’m sorry and I deeply regret it every day.”
An urgent review of the Bryson case by the SPS has concluded that no female prisoners were put at risk but has recommended bolstering the system for the admission of trans prisoners. The key conclusions – to consider the prisoner’s offending history and strengthen the balance around risks of harm to others – will be welcomed by campaigners.
The Record has revealed concerns among female prison staff at being expected to carry out intimate searches on other sex offenders self-identifying as women, including Tiffany Scott. Scott, convicted as Andrew Burns of stalking a 13-year-old girl, was set for a transfer to a female unit until the Bryson case forced a hurried rethink.
Research published in August 2020 by a former SPS employee raised some of the key concerns over the handling of transgender prisoners. The concerns were included in a study by Matthew Maycock, of Dundee University’s school of education and social work, and was published in the British Journal of Criminology.
It revealed that a number of prisoners who had identified as female while in jail and served their time among female prisoners had reverted to being male on release, calling into question the authenticity of their gender identity. It also revealed that most female prison officers were uncomfortable at being expected to do intimate searches of prisoners in female units who still had male genitalia.
An SPS spokesperson said: “We have commenced an urgent review of all transgender cases currently managed in our establishments. Our first concern is always, and remains, the health, safety, and wellbeing of all the people in our care, and that of our staff. We have very robust risk-assessment processes, and a track record of keeping people safe, in often challenging circumstances.”
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