Now trans prisoner who stalked girl of 13 gets OK to move to women’s prison

SCOTLAND First Minister Nicola Sturgeon faces a fresh trans row after a second transgender criminal – who once stalked a 13-year-old girl – was given the green light to be moved to a women’s prison.

J.K. Rowling was among those condemning the decision to allow Tiffany Scott, 31, formerly known as Andrew Burns, to be transferred. In a scathing tweet, the Harry Potter author wrote that she was ‘deeply amused’ by those saying they had lost admiration for her because of the disrespect she showed towards ‘violent, duplicitous’ criminals.

It comes just days after Ms Sturgeon was forced to intervene and remove trans woman Isla Bryson – who as Adam Graham, a man, raped two women – from an allfemale prison after a public outcry. The embarrassing U-turn came after Westminster blocked Ms Sturgeon’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill – aimed at making it easier and faster for people in Scotland to change their legal gender.

MSPs overwhelmingly passed the law in Holyrood before Christmas but the UK Government feared predatory men might exploit the law to access women-only spaces.

Last night Ms Sturgeon faced mounting pressure to block the prison transfer of Scott for fear other women, including prison staff, would be at risk.

Scott – known as Burns when she began offending – racked up convictions for vandalism, assault, and resisting arrest. Behind bars, her dangerous behaviour escalated as she stalked a 13-year-old girl with letters from her cell and attacked female staff at a men’s prison.

Deemed ‘too dangerous’ to appear in open court, she is one of around 120 prisoners with an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR), meaning she will be released only when no longer considered an ‘unmanageable risk to public safety’.

Opposition politicians demanded that Ms Sturgeon block the transfer. MSP and Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman Rachael Hamilton said: ‘The fact that such a violent and dangerous criminal is set to be transferred to a women’s prison is absolutely appalling.

‘The idea that this violent individual may soon have access to scores of vulnerable women within our prison estate is truly repellent.’