David/Serenity Johnston
David/Serenity Johnston, a violent male who identifies as a transgender woman, was convicted at Livingston High Court in Scotland in February 2026 of five serious sexual offences, including two rapes, against two girls under 11.
Johnston, aged 34 and from Broxburn, West Lothian, attacked two sisters when they were aged between nine and 11 years old between November 2006 and September 2012 (i.e. when Johnston was a teenager) and the jury took less than an hour to reach a verdict of guilty. Johnston declared his trans identity at some point after perpetrating the offences.
Sentencing was deferred for background reports, including a risk assessment, until March 13. Johnston was remanded into custody and told by the judge “It will be a very lengthy sentence.”
Johnston’s conviction coincided with court action initiated by For Women Scotland (FWS) to challenge the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) policy of continuing to house some trans-identified male offenders in the female estate if they haven’t been convicted of a violent/sexual crime against a female victim. This has led to extremely violent transgender male murderers such as Paris Green, Daniel/Sophie Easton, Alex Stewart and Richard McCabe/Melissa Young (who all murdered other men) to be incarcerated with women. As Kate Coleman, of Keep Prisons Single Sex previously noted in 2023: “These are violent male offenders, all four of whom have caused significant problems in the female estate . . . including sexual exhibitionism [Stewart and Eastwood], harassment and stalking [Eastwood], sexual threats and inappropriate sexual relationships [Green] and violent assault (Young).” In addition, Green has since been convicted of an assault on a female prison officer in 2025.
Rhona Hotchkiss, who ran Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling until 2017, described the SPS rules as “ambiguous and illogical” and added that “As things stand the Scottish government is saying some trans women are women but others are not depending on their crimes. But you can’t have it both ways. Either they are, or they are not. It is not difficult, there should be no men in women’s prisons because they are men. And there should be no grey area.”
The Scottish Sun compiled a comprehensive list of violent male transgender offenders that the SPS has deemed appropriate to be held in women’s prisons which includes the four named above and other notorious Scottish trans sex offenders such as Lennon/Katie Dolatowski and Isla Bryson/Adam Graham. All Scottish trans offenders are collated under this tag.
Coverage of FWS’ February 2026 judicial review of Scotland’s trans prisoner policy is available here via the Tribunal Tweets Substack.
Image credits: Daily Record/Sunday Mail
Media reports
Daily Record https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/trans-rapist-convicted-sex-attacks-36686456 archive
The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/rules-on-trans-women-in-scottish-jails-are-ambiguous-and-illogical-pkxbxj8ck archive
Scottish Sun https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/15896608/sinister-male-trans-criminals-scotland-female-jails/ archive
Scottish Daily Express https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/another-scots-trans-rapist-convicted-36688035 archive