A murderer who changed gender is demanding to be treated as a baby by prison staff.
Sophie Eastwood was formerly known as Daniel and was jailed for life in 2004 for strangling a cell-mate with shoelaces.
The killer has now told the prison governor at Polmont jail that she wants to identify as a baby, wear nappies and have meals blended like baby food.
Eastwood has also demanded that prison officers hold her hand when she is escorted from her cell.
It is understood that prison bosses are treating the demands seriously and considering which protocols might be established in dealing with the prisoner.
Eastwood has already been supplied with a dummy.
A source said: “This prisoner has been difficult and manipulative over the years, which is why she is still behind bars after 17 years.
“She decided that she would ‘trans’ from a man to woman, which is becoming more common in jails these days.
“But this is obviously something else entirely and the Scottish Prison Service has no protocol in place for dealing with prisoners who decide they are babies.”
The source added: “Eastwood is a complex person and intelligent but she is pretty demanding on the resources of the prison and enjoys being the centre of attention.
"It’s difficult to know if she really does feel a natural inclination to be treated like a baby or if it’s just some kind of attention seeking.
“Modern prisons are very tuned in to human rights and the legal implications they throw up, so it’s being given proper consideration.”
Eastwood, 36, is serving a life sentence for killing Paul Algie, 22, in 2004.
Formerly Daniel Eastwood, she has been living as a woman in jail for four years and completed her 15-year minimum term in 2019.
But she has remained in secure conditions and is not due for release.
The source added: “This prisoner has already served the entire punishment term of the tariff but she has not been advanced through the prison estate to a place where she can prepare for release.
"There is no current intention to put her in any open prison regime.
“This is nothing to do with gender issues. She just refuses to play by the rules or show any inclination or readiness to live in normal society.”
Speaking to the Daily Record from Polmont Prison earlier this year, Eastwood claimed she would have been freed by now if she had remained a man.
She said: “In January 2020, I met all the standard criteria to pass to less secure conditions, except being biologically female.
“The prison service wanted me to have a psychological assessment as I hadn’t had one since starting to live as female.
“After that, I was told by a manager that I would have passed the assessment had I still been living as a man.
“I felt this was sexist and transphobic. The SPS was implying that as a man I didn’t represent a risk to the public but as a woman I did. I don’t think there’s any evidence to support that.”
Eastwood’s case reveals a troubled life that escalated out of control.
Then living as a boy, Daniel, she was jailed in 2004 for dangerous driving. A month before the date for release from Dumfries Young Offenders Institution, the inmate strangled Paul Algie, 22, with “considerable and prolonged” force.
Staff were so concerned about the violence used they branded Eastwood “Hannibal Lecter jnr”.
Eastwood was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years at the High Court in Glasgow, and has now served more than 17 years.
The killer said she realised at a psychologist session in 2016 that she was not a gay man but identified instead as a woman.
She takes a drug that blocks the production of the male hormone testosterone.
She has been held in women-only units since 2018, at HMP Edinburgh, Polmont and a short spell at Cornton Vale.
She claims to be remorseful, saying: “I was 18. To say I had unresolved issues would be a massive understatement.
“I was naive, immature, and thought that killing my cell mate would get me sectioned and I’d spend the rest of my life in hospital being looked after. I’m sorry and regret it every day.”
An SPS spokesman said: “We can’t comment on individual prisoners.”
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