• 7 years ago
• Posted in:Burglary/Robbery, Child Sexual Abuse, Kidnap/Abduction, Prostitution-related offences, Rape / Sexual Assault, Sexual Offences, Violent Offences
• 0
• Author: melodie
• Tags: Aged 20-29, Alleged sexual assault in prison, Category A prisoner, Child victim, Convicted 1980s, Convicted 1990s, Convicted 1991, Convicted 1996, England, HMP Frankland, HMP Full Sutton, HMP Whitemoor, Life sentence, Male victim, Media obscuring nature of crimes, Multiple victims, Offended 1980s, Offended 1991, Offended 1995, Offended while in custody, Offending coincided with transitioning, Post-transition, pre-GRS, Pre-transition, Prison death, Prison sexual assault, Prison transition, Refused transfer to women's prison, Repeat offender, Suicide, Trans woman

Silhouette image via Wikimedia Commons

An unnamed male prisoner at HMP Full Sutton was convicted of the kidnap and sexual assault of a child in 1991 and received a life sentence with a minimum period to serve of six years (the tariff) before release could be considered by the Parole Board.

In August 1995, the prisoner was charged with the rape of a fellow prisoner, convicted in February 1996 and sentenced to an eight year sentence to run concurrently with the existing sentence.

The prisoner first expressed a wish to transition to live as a trans woman in 1996 following this conviction for rape, and in 2011 signed an undertaking to begin living as a trans woman.  However the prisoner’s requests to step down from a Category A to Category B prisoner had been refused after the prisoner continued to exhibit predatory sexual behaviour. Throughout the prisoner’s time in jail, other inmates complained of sexual assaults, grooming and highly sexualised language – and the prisoner made reciprocal allegations.

In 2012 the prisoner, aged 44, was found unresponsive in their cell and an inquest returned a verdict of suicide.

The prisoner had also served several previous prison sentences for offences including indecent assault, importuning and robbery.

In a 2015 article on deaths of transgender inmates in prison, Rachel Thompson writing for Mashable states that the prisoner “told officers she had been raped by another prisoner, but no further action was taken by the prison after police concluded there was no evidence of rape. The prisoner told officers she felt persecuted and that the prison was not doing enough to support her.” Thompson, however, chooses to omit the salient fact that the prisoner themself had actually been convicted of raping another prisoner. This offence is clearly stated in the Prisons & Probation Ombudsman report she was shown [link below].

Prisons & Probation Ombudsman report on the death of the prisoner http://www.ppo.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/H058-12-death-of-a-female-prisoner-fullsutton-12-07-2012-SID-41-50.pdf#view=FitH

Media reports:

Mashable http://mashable.com/2015/12/11/transgender-prison-uk/  archive