The number was disclosed during a three-day hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh last week, where Scottish National Party (SNP) ministers defended guidance permitting transgender women to be housed in female prisons following individual risk assessments.
Fourteen male-bodied transgender prisoners, including individuals convicted of murder and sexual offences, have been housed in Scotland’s women’s prison estate, triggering renewed controversy and intensifying pressure on the Scottish Government over its transgender inmate policy.
The figure emerged during a three-day Court of Session hearing in Edinburgh last week, where Scottish National Party (SNP) ministers defended guidance allowing biological males who identify as women to be placed in female prisons following risk assessments.
Details were highlighted in a report by The Scottish Sun, prompting campaigners and opposition politicians to call for the policy to be abandoned, warning that it endangers vulnerable female prisoners.
Independent MSP Ash Regan condemned the practice, stating that “male violence does not disappear because an offender changes gender identity.”
“No man should be housed in the female estate,” Regan said. “Male-pattern offending does not suddenly evaporate because a man says he is a woman. Among the known male prisoners in the female estate are murderers, sexual torturers, and convicted paedophiles. These offenders should be nowhere near it, especially given that most female prisoners have histories of domestic and sexual abuse.”
Regan accused the SNP government of prioritising ideology over women’s safety: “The SNP’s obsession with men’s rights over women’s safety will be their downfall. The public will question why men convicted of the most heinous crimes are considered more important than vulnerable women.”
Killers and Violent Offenders Named
Those reported to have been housed in women’s prisons include:
- Alexandria Stewart (formerly Alan Baker), 37, serving 19 years for the murder of John Weir, a father of two, in Bonhill, Dunbartonshire.
- Sophie Eastwood (formerly Daniel Eastwood), 40, convicted of strangling a cellmate, Paul Algie, 22, at Dumfries Young Offenders Institution in 2004.
- Paris Green (born Peter Laing), 34, sentenced to 18 years for sexually assaulting and torturing Robert Shankland, 45, to death in Glenrothes, Fife, in 2013.
Legal Challenge
The controversy has prompted a legal challenge from campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS), which is seeking a judicial review of the Scottish Government’s 2023 guidance on transgender prisoners. FWS argues the policy violates the human rights of female prisoners and should be declared unlawful, particularly following a 2025 Supreme Court ruling affirming that sex, for equality law purposes, is biological.
FWS co-director Marion Calder criticised the government, saying: “The Scottish Government have lost their minds thinking housing violent men beside women was ever the right thing to do.”
An affidavit from a Scottish Prison Service (SPS) employee indicated that male prisoners have been placed in the female estate for at least 20 years, though formal records only began in 2014.
Political Fallout
The issue has reignited public anger over previous incidents, including the 2023 case of double rapist Isla Bryson (formerly Adam Graham), who was initially housed in Cornton Vale women’s prison.
Conservative MSP Tess White accused the SNP of defying the Supreme Court ruling, stating: “The SNP are using every sleekit trick in the book to avoid implementing the clear verdict from the Supreme Court nine months ago.”
The Scottish Government, however, maintains that safeguards are in place: “No transgender woman with a history of violence against women and girls, who presents a risk of harm, is placed in the female estate,” a spokesperson said. The government added that its policies comply with the Scotland Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Despite these assurances, campaigners argue the controversy highlights a defining test of whether the Scottish Government will prioritise women’s safety over contested gender policies.