- EXCLUSIVE: Amanda Benson, 42, ‘pleaded guilty to get away from trans woman’
- She was in HMP Greenock with two trans women – a murderer and a sex assaulter
A mother-of-four claims she pleaded guilty to a crime she didn’t commit to avoid returning to a prison that housed two trans inmates locked up for murder and sex assault, MailOnline can reveal.
Amanda Benson, 42, from Inverkip, Scotland, was imprisoned on remand at HMP Greenock with the two trans women – murderer Alex Stewart, 34, and sexual assaulter Laura Miller, 30.
Neither have had gender surgery or taken gender-affirming hormones, Mrs Benson said.
Stewart – previously known as Alan Baker – was jailed for 19 years for stabbing father-of-two John Weir, 36, to death after they met on a dating site.
The trans prisoner reportedly started dating a female child killer in HMP Greenock in 2020.
Miller was jailed for almost two years in 2022 after she sexually assaulted a woman who had taken sleeping medication on multiple occasions in 2017 and even filmed one of the attacks, in which she made an offensive sexual remark about her.
Although she had committed the offence when she was in jail with Mrs Benson, it was only in 2022 that she was convicted of that crime. In 2018, she was in Greenock Prison for a different unknown crime.
Mrs Benson revealed she was so terrified of being raped and impregnated by the murderer or sex pest that she had a contraceptive coil fitted at the prison run by the Scottish government.
She told MailOnline: ‘I took a plea deal and plead[ed] guilty even though I didn’t do it.
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‘It’s terrifying to be in there with them so [I did anything] to get out of there.
‘I felt the threat that I could have been raped by these men and that could have led to me falling pregnant.
‘They were both quite tall. One was very heavy. He dressed like a man. The other guy tried to wear sparkly jeans.
‘Neither had had any surgery. They just said they were women and wanted to be in a women’s prison.
‘We can’t leave. We are locked up with them, no matter what.
‘Even if they claim to be gay, you’re in prison – it’s very, very different.
‘I think some of them just want an easier time and some of them are sexualised [and] like seeing themselves as women and being included as women.
‘It’s an affirmation for them.
‘It validates them. It’s a sexual thing.
‘It could be that they are sexual deviants. You’re putting a fox into the hen house.
‘Not all men are rapists and murderers but you have to keep all men out to keep the bad ones out.’
The cells at Greenock Prison don’t have shows in them, meaning women have to use communal showers.
Rhona Hotchkiss, who was Governor of HMP Greenock until 2019, said: ‘We had three or four trans women in at once. It was a horrific situation.
‘None of them had identified as trans before they came into prison.
‘The behaviour was appalling. They were clearly, most of them, there for sexual reasons.’
She added: ‘Male staff are not allowed to go anywhere near those showers but trans women can.
‘I knew of women who wouldn’t shower.’
Mrs Benson said: ‘You don’t expect it, to be showering with men. Not in gyms, not anywhere. Especially not in prison.
‘It’s terrifying, humiliating, bad and horrific.
‘There are no cameras in the showers. It’s one of the easiest places for someone to physically or sexually assault you.
‘I got the contraceptive coil fitted. That’s the first time I ever had any contraception.
‘[Trans women] are going through a female risk assessment.
‘Prison is such a crazy, unpredictable place.
‘It’s unpredictable what the women do, never mind what a man does.
‘We wouldn’t stand a chance against these men.
‘I don’t think men should be allowed to be in female prisons at all. If they can’t keep them safe in a male prison, then they need to find another way.’
Mrs Benson said she was on remand in HMP Greenock for seven weeks in 2018 after being accused of biting a police officer – which she fiercely denies.
She was on bail for a separate allegation of serious assault and also on a deferred sentence to be on good behaviour after holding a man by his hair when she attacked a man in October 2018.
The mother-of-four claimed he tried to sexually assault her and her friend while on a night out.
The prosecutor told Greenock Sheriff Court that when the police arrived, an officer put his hand on her shoulder and she bit him.
Sheriff Andrew McIntyre ordered her to complete 228 hours of unpaid work in nine months, go to alcohol counselling and remain under social work supervision for a year instead of going to jail.
Last summer, Scotland’s chief prisons inspector Wendy Sinclair-Gieben branded building conditions at the 113-year-old HMP Greenock ‘appalling’ in a report last summer.
In a separate interview, she said a trans woman was ‘someone who has done the transgender process and is now seen as a woman’ and that there’s never been an issue with trans people in Scottish prisons’.
Prison therapist Alison Blackler, 56, from the Wirral, told MailOnline: ‘There is certainly a concern because of the predatory behaviours of men which do leave women more vulnerable.
‘People being outraged can be perceived as transphobic which makes it more complex.
‘Generally, the main concern of people who object to the idea of unisex toilets is that it will lead to an increase in violence, particularly against women.
‘Women see toilets and bathrooms as a safe place away from men and this is a direct challenge to what is the norm.
‘Hearing that some of these trans women have a crime against women is a grave concern.
‘Prisons usually do a lot of work to separate prisoners who trigger each other or create vulnerability – it seems as though this agenda has become a secondary thing.
‘It is certainly on people’s minds. For me, the main concern is what risk a person poses.
‘Prisons already keep vulnerable prisoners apart from the general population of the prison.
‘It is a hot topic and one that needs to be sensitively managed.’
The Family Education Trust’s Lucy Marsh told MailOnline: ‘It is appalling that men who pretend to be women are allowed to be in female prisons.
‘The majority of women in prison have been the victim of domestic violence and sexual assault, and more than half experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child.
‘To put vulnerable women at further risk of abuse from predatory men is wilfully irresponsible and immoral.
‘The Scottish government continues to display its complete contempt for the safety of women.
‘Men belong in male prisons, no matter how they identify.
‘There should not be any exceptions made which would ever allow a biological male to be incarcerated alongside women.’
HMP Greenock hung up the phone when approached for comment. The jail later suggested posting a letter instead of calling or emailing.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: ‘SPS policy is clear that if a transgender woman with a history of violence against women and girls presents a risk of harm, they will be admitted and accommodated in the men’s estate and not access the women’s estate.
‘The Scottish Prison Service has considerable expertise, as well as a duty of care for the management of people in their custody, and SPS upholds its responsibilities to deliver safe, secure and suitable services for all. The Scottish Government cannot comment on individual cases.’
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘We do not comment on individuals.
‘Our new policy supports the health, safety, and wellbeing of all people living and working in Scotland’s prisons, by taking an individualised approach to the admission, placement, and management of transgender people.
‘We will carefully consider a range of factors, including offending history, with a particular focus on violence against women and girls, when assessing risk. No transgender women, with a history of violence against women and girls, who presents a risk to women, will be placed in the female estate.’
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
