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The transgender double rapist who was originally sent to a women’s prison had enrolled in a beauty class while awaiting trial.
Isla Bryson, formerly known as Adam Graham, attended Ayrshire College’s Kilwinning campus in 2021, the university confirmed to MailOnline today.
The convicted rapist began taking the beauty course, which reportedly involved classroom work and practical applications, after being accused of sexual assault.
Bryson, 31, was convicted this week of raping two women in 2016 and 2019 following a trial in Glasgow High Court.
The criminal was transferred today to a men’s prison after outrage from activists, politicians and a United Nations human rights expert. Bryson will return to court for sentencing next month.
Isla Bryson (pictured Monday) attended Ayrshire College’s Kilwinning campus in 2021 while awaiting trial for rape.
Bryson began taking a beauty course at Ayrshire College (pictured), which reportedly involved classroom work and practical applications, after she was accused of sexual assault.
Bryson enrolled at the university for a three-month term in 2021 and is no longer enrolled, Ayrshire College spokesperson told MailOnline today.
The spokesperson added: ‘Ayrshire College had no prior knowledge that this individual was charged with any offence.
“We will not comment further on this matter.”
Bryson’s class was made up almost exclusively of female students, most of whom were “much younger” than the convicted rapist, according to reports.
Susan Smith, from campaign group For Women Scotland, suspects the rapist’s classmates were unaware of the charges because they came forward under Bryson’s ‘original name’.
“Presumably they knew him by his new name, so they probably wouldn’t have been able to find out anything about this person,” Ms Smith said. STV news today, adding that it is “absolutely terrifying that people can hide their identities and have access to young women in this way.”
Bryson, formerly known as Adam Graham (pictured), was convicted this week of raping two women in 2016 and 2019 following a trial in Glasgow High Court.
Bryson, 31, was transferred to a men’s prison today after outrage from activists, politicians and a United Nations human rights expert. The rapist will return to court for sentencing next month. Pictured: A prison van believed to be transporting Isla Bryson to a men’s prison is seen leaving Cornton Vale Women’s Prison in Stirling at 2:30pm this afternoon.
The vehicle is understood to have arrived at the new facility around 5:20 p.m.
News of Bryson’s enrollment at Ayrshire College comes just hours after the rapist was transferred from Scotland’s only women’s prison to a men’s jail just hours after a humiliating U-turn by Nicola Sturgeon.
Ms Sturgeon told Prime Minister’s Questions: “I don’t think it’s possible to have a rapist inside a women’s prison.”
A vehicle believed to be carrying Bryson left Cornton Vale jail in Stirling at around 2:30 p.m., arriving at a replacement facility at 5:20 p.m.
The SNP leader revealed the U-turn just 24 hours after her own attorney general, Keith Brown, backed the Scottish Prison Service’s decision to put the transgender double rapist with inmates at Cornton Vale.
The move comes after activists, politicians and a United Nations human rights expert raised concerns that Bryson is being held in a women’s prison.
Parliamentarians and MSPs warned that female inmates could be at risk and the move sent a signal that male sex offenders could “cheat the system”.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said today: “It shouldn’t have taken public outcry and a slew of negative headlines about a double rapist being sent to a women’s prison for Nicola Sturgeon to realize this was completely unacceptable and wrong.”
Bryson had only begun the transition after appearing in court on the rape charges.
The rapist’s estranged wife, Shonna Graham, 31, previously told MailOnline that her ex-partner’s transition was a “sham for attention” and that he was “intimidating the authorities” to avoid a male prison.
Transgender rapist Isla Bryson was sent to a women’s prison despite committing the crimes as a man and transitioning after being charged.
Bryson’s estranged wife, Shonna Graham, 31, previously told MailOnline that her ex-partner’s transition was a “sham of care” and that he was “bullying the authorities” to avoid a male prison. Pictured: Shonna Graham and Isla Bryson, later Adam Graham, on their wedding day.
Nicola Sturgeon (pictured today) confirmed that Isla Bryson will not be held in a women’s prison as she spoke before the Scottish Parliament today.
Bryson’s case comes weeks after the Scottish Parliament passed a bill to make it easier for people to change their legal gender, drawing criticism from some women’s rights activists who argue that predatory men could use it to access single-sex spaces, such as bathrooms.
The controversial bill, passed in December, made Scotland the first UK nation to back a self-identification process to change gender, including removing the need for a gender dysphoria medical diagnosis and reducing the minimum age 18 to 16.
The bill has deepened a break with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government in London, with the two already at loggerheads over whether Scotland can hold another independence referendum.
Scotland’s devolved parliament can make its own laws, but the UK can veto legislation if it feels it interferes with matters of national jurisdiction. Britain’s decision to block the gender bill is the first time it has invoked such a power.
Ms Sturgeon has called the UK’s blocking of the bill a “full frontal attack” on the Scottish Parliament.