Trans prisoner charged with sexual assault in women's jail

A transgender prisoner serving a sentence for murder has been charged with the sexual assault of a fellow inmate at a women's prison.

Alexandra Stewart, previously known as Alan Baker, allegedly attacked the woman at HMP Greenock.

Stewart - a biological male who identifies as a woman – was jailed for the murder of John Weir in 2013 and has been held in a women's unit in the prison since 2016.

Police Scotland said a report would be submitted to the procurator fiscal over the incident.

Stewart – thought to be one of two trans women prisoners held in Scotland's female prison estate - was jailed for life after murdering Weir, 36, by stabbing him 16 times at his home in Bonhill, West Dunbartonshire.

The 38-year-old accused another prisoner of transphobia in a court case last year. However, that case was dismissed.

The Scottish Prison Service uses a system of individual risk assessments which aims to keep anyone who poses a danger to women out of the female estate.

However, it does allow for circumstances where trans women can be housed in a women's prison if they are deemed not to pose an unacceptable risk.

That guidance is being challenged by the campaign group For Women Scotland, in a case being considered by judges at the Court of Session.

It follows a Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman in equalities law in April last year.

The judges ruled that when the term "woman" is used in the Equality Act it means a biological woman, and "sex" means biological sex.

The Scottish government said it respected the ruling but argued it did not override the upholding of protections set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.