Transgender Prisoner Charged with Sexual Assault at HMP Greenock
A transgender prisoner serving a life sentence for murder has been charged with the sexual assault of a fellow inmate at a women's prison.
Alexandra Stewart, formerly known as Alan Baker, allegedly assaulted the woman at HMP Greenock.
Stewart, a biological male who identifies as a woman, was convicted of murdering John Weir in 2013 and has been held in a women's unit at the prison since 2016.
Police Scotland confirmed that a report regarding the incident will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.
Stewart is believed to be one of two transgender women prisoners housed within Scotland's female prison estate. She was sentenced to life imprisonment after fatally stabbing Weir, aged 36, sixteen times at his residence in Bonhill, West Dunbartonshire.
Last year, the 38-year-old accused another prisoner of transphobia in a court case; however, that case was dismissed.
Why Are Transgender Prisoners Held in Female Prisons?
The Scottish Prison Service employs individual risk assessments designed to prevent anyone posing a danger to women from being placed in the female estate.
Nonetheless, the policy permits transgender women to be housed in women's prisons if they are assessed as not posing an unacceptable risk.
This guidance is currently being challenged by the campaign group For Women Scotland in a case before the Court of Session.
The challenge follows a Supreme Court ruling in April of the previous year concerning the definition of "woman" in equalities law.
The judges determined that in the Equality Act, the term "woman" refers to a biological woman, and "sex" corresponds to biological sex.
The Scottish government has stated that it respects this ruling but maintains that it does not override protections established under the European Convention on Human Rights.
