Trans murderer Sophie Eastwood ‘would be out of jail already if she was a man’
Trans murderer Sophie Eastwood ‘would be out of jail already if she was a man’
A murderer is to take legal action against the Scottish prison service after claiming that she has been discriminated against because she is transgender.
Sophie Eastwood, 35, who is serving a life sentence for killing a fellow inmate, began her prison sentence as a man but has been living as a woman behind bars for more than three years and is in a wing at Polmont prison for female offenders. She believes that had she continued to live as a man, she would have been freed already and is now instructing a lawyer to fight her case to accelerate her release.
Eastwood, who was known as Daniel when she admitted murder, has accused the prison authorities of transphobia and spoken for the first time of her remorse over the “unforgivable” murder she committed, admitting she deserved a tougher punishment.
She said: “The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has a highly polished image [on] its treatment of transgender prisoners, but the reality is that I have been told I would have been freed now had I still been living as a man.
“The SPS say I am more dangerous as a woman than as a man, and I don’t think that can be justified or supported in any way.”
Eastwood was jailed for dangerous driving in 2004. A month before release from Dumfries young offenders institution, Eastwood strangled Paul Algie, 22, with shoelaces, using “considerable and prolonged” force, and was jailed for life at the High Court in Glasgow, ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years.
Eastwood has served 17 years. She said that although she had always been attracted to men, she realised during a session with a prison psychologist in 2016 that she was not a gay man but rather identified as a woman.
Eastwood has been held in women-only units since January 2018, mainly at HMP Edinburgh, until an unwanted transfer back to Polmont last month.
She takes a drug that blocks the production of the male hormone testosterone. She maintains that the SPS is in breach of its own transgender policy.
She added: “In January 2020 I was denied the opportunity to progress to less secure conditions even though I met all the standard criteria, except being biologically female.
“A month later, the SPS wanted me to have a psychological assessment as I hadn’t had one since starting to live as female. After that, I was told by a manager that I would have passed the assessment had I still been living as a man.
“I explained that this was sexist and transphobic. The SPS was implying that as a man I didn’t represent a risk to the public, but as a woman I did.”
Speaking about her crime, she said: “I was 18. To say I had unresolved issues would be the understatement of the century. I was terrified about how I would cope outside.
“I was naive, immature, and thought that by killing my cellmate they’d consider me mad, section me and I could spend the rest of my life in hospital being looked after.
“I’m sorry and regret it every day. I view my offence as worse than any other murder because the guy was also vulnerable and did nothing to me. A life sentence with a minimum of 15 years was not enough to be honest.
“If somebody killed a member of my family, I’d want them to stay in prison until they died.”
Eastwood intends to transition fully one day, but at present due to Covid-19, appointments with the necessary medics are impossible to arrange.
She said: “For now, I have to fight my corner to maintain my rights and survive being a prisoner, and hopefully prove I’m not dangerous and get out of here.”
She has been in contact with lawyers to pursue her claims against the SPS as soon as pandemic restrictions make it possible.
An SPS source said that the service had a “well-established track record in terms of trying to support prisoners no matter their gender or sexual orientation”. A spokesman said: “We can’t comment on individual prisoners.”
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