Tara Hudson: Transgender woman 'moved to all-female prison' after petition attracts 125,000 signatures

Fight: Tara Hudson being interviewed by the BBC in June
BBC
Ramzy Alwakeel30 October 2015
WEST END FINAL

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A transgender woman who was sent to an all-male prison has reportedly been moved to a women’s jail after a legal battle.

Tara Hudson, who has lived as a woman all her adult life, is still legally recognised as a man. She was jailed for 12 weeks after a drunken attack on a bar manager.

Hudson, 26, appealed her sentence after being placed in all-male HMP Horfield, Bristol.

Recorder Llewellyn Sellick dismissed the appeal, but did say the Prison Service should give “sensitive consideration” as to where she served her time.

Sources tonight said Hudson had been moved to a female facility.

A HM Prisons Service spokeswoman said: “It is longstanding policy to place offenders according to their legally recognised gender.

“However, our guidelines allow room for discretion and in such cases medical experts will review the circumstances in order to protect the emotional wellbeing of the person concerned.

“Our top priority is the safety and welfare of those in our custody and decisions relating to the location of transgender prisoners are taken by a range of people including psychologists, healthcare professionals and prison staff.”

Hudson last week admitted headbutting Christopher Dyer after he refused to serve her at Be At One Bar in Bath. He needed £1,500 of reconstructive dental surgery.

A petition calling for Hudson to be transferred to an all-female prison attracted more than 125,000 signatures ahead of her hearing today.

At Bristol Crown Court, barrister Nicholas Wragg said his client had been separated from the rest of the prison population at HMP Horfield and “locked in a cell 23 hours a day”.

“The clang of a prison door should never be pleasant,” he said. “It should have a sobering effect on a person.

“But Ms Hudson has had an awful time – she has found it unrelenting and frightening.

“As she left prison today to come to court, where she was placed in a female cell, she found herself taunted by other inmates shouting ‘Tara, Tara, show us your tits’.”

Recorder Sellick said: “It is for the prison service to and not the court to establish where a sentence should be served.

“We would invite further and sensitive consideration of these issues.”

Speaking to the BBC in June, Ms Hudson said: “I didn’t choose to be this way. I was born this way. It’s a medical condition. […] This is something that I have to deal with.

“I think change is coming and people will start to accept. I definitely see it with the younger generation […] It’s not much of a problem [for them].”

Additional reporting by Press Association

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