Lancaster self-harming prisoner

Silhouette image via Wikimedia Commons

An unnamed violent male prisoner who identifies as a trans woman was reported in December 2015 to have attempted to “remove her scrotum and inject bleach into her testicles.” The prisoner apparently began the gender reassignment process while incarcerated in a male prison in 2008 and declared the intention to live permanently as a trans woman in 2012.

After writing to Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster & Fleetwood, she related to parliament in 2015 that “the prisoner was in the final stages of reconstruction surgery to help her transition before entering custody” and that the National Offender Management Service (Noms) refused the prisoner access to this surgery and hormonal medication.

The prisoner was regarded as vulnerable with a history of self harm and suicide attempts. Cat Smith also said in her speech to parliament that the prisoner said they had been raped twice and sexually assaulted in prison.

No details on the offence the prisoner committed have been reported, but to have been in prison from around 2008 to 2015 and to be transitioning in prison indicates the crime would have been serious and/or violent enough to merit a long prison sentence. The fact that the prisoner was refused a transfer to a women’s prison also indicates the prisoner did not meet risk assessment criteria to be transferred.

See also Christopher Hunnisett, an extremely violent trans-identified male murderer who transitioned in prison in 2015 and, according to news reports, attempted to remove his own genitals while incarcerated. It is unknown whether these are two separate cases or the same person involved in both cases. The prisoner may also have been another extremely violent trans-identified male murderer – Alan / Sarah-Jane Baker. Although there are several details in common, there is a date discrepancy, as Baker asserts in this article that “[I] resorted to drastic measures in December 2017, and I cut my testicles off when I was in my prison cell”.

Media reports:

The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/transgender-woman-tried-to-remove-testicles-after-being-denied-hormone-replacement-therapy-a6776011.html  archive

Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3363751/Transgender-woman-injected-bleach-testicles-tried-cut-scrotum-denied-hormone-therapy-male-prison.html  archive

Sunday World http://www.sundayworld.com/news/crime-world/transgender-woman-in-uk-mens-prison-feels-destroyed  archive