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| Convicted rapist Karen White (pictured) was moved to women's jail HMP New Hall and sexually assaulted two women inmates |
Official figures show for the first time the true scale of offending by criminals who were born male but were allowed to move into female jails after changing gender.
Yet despite the risks, prison governors are still allowing trans inmates to move into the jails. Male-born trans prisoners were first allowed to request a transfer to women's jails in England and Wales in 2016.
Just a year later the risks of the policy were made clear when a convicted rapist was moved to women's jail HMP New Hall and sexually assaulted two women inmates.
Karen White dressed as a woman but was still legally a man and had not undergone surgery. She was jailed for life in 2018 by a judge who branded her a 'highly manipulative' predator.
Now the Ministry of Justice has admitted the case was not a one-off. In response to a Parliamentary question from former Labour Party General Secretary Baroness McDonagh, Ministers have revealed there have been several other sexual assaults by trans prisoners.
But incredibly, the initial response omitted the White case and was only corrected after The Mail on Sunday intervened.
The MoJ said: 'Since 2010, out of the 124 sexual assaults that occurred in the female estate a total of seven of those were sexual assaults against females in custody perpetrated by transgender individuals.'
Prison officers at work at the new HMP Bronzefield (womens prison) in Ashford, Middlesex, where at least one attack took place
It means that although trans women make up about one per cent of the 3,600 female jail population, they are to blame for 5.6 per cent of sexual assaults there. The attacks took place at HMP Low Newton, HMP Foston Hall, HMP Peterborough (Female) and HMP Bronzefield as well as HMP New Hall.
The MoJ said it did not know if the culprits had been punished, saying this information was 'not held centrally'. It also insisted there had been 'no reported incidents of any type of sexual assault against prison officers by trans prisoners', despite claims to the contrary.
As the MoS reported last month, former Prisons Minister Rory Stewart said in a recent interview there had been 'situations of male prisoners self-identifying as females then raping staff in prison'.
In the wake of the White case, a new policy was developed for considering transfer requests by trans prisoners, adding 'specific risk factors that must be considered where they might impact on other prisoners'.
Yet figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show increasing numbers of trans prisoners are being allowed to move to women's jails. In 2018, seven requests were made and fewer than five were granted. Yet last year 14 requests were made and, of those, seven were granted.
Last night Nicola Williams, director of campaign group Fair Play For Women, said: 'These new figures are another red flag warning us about something everyone knows: Allowing males into female prisons is dangerous for...
