JK Rowling mocks Isla Bryson after trans rapist called her 'pathetic'

JK Rowling has mocked transgender double rapist Isla Bryson after the sex offender called her 'sad and pathetic' over her views on gender identity.

Bryson, 32, was jailed for eight years in February 2023 after raping two women in West Dunbartonshire and Glasgow.

The sex attacker was charged with the offences as Adam Graham, but changed gender while waiting to stand trial and took the name Isla Bryson.

The case sparked public outcry, including from Harry Potter author JK Rowling, after Bryson was sent to the all-female Cornton Vale prison outside Stirling, before later being transferred to a male prison.

Launching a scathing attack on Ms Rowling, Bryson said the author's books were c**p and that he pitied her. 

In letters to The Sunday Mail from prison, Bryson said: 'Why should a trans woman be treated as a man in prison when we are women? Fact. No matter what anyone else says these people are just narrow minded who don't even like themselves. 

'People like JK Rowling are sad and pathetic. I do feel sorry for JK Rowling, her books are c**p and her movies are too.'

Rowling has long fought to protect single sex spaces and is a prominent campaigner for women's rights. 

And hitting back at Bryson on her X account, she joked: 'The violent sex offender market is of critical importance to me, so I do hope Mr Bryson's remarks won't dissuade other rapists from borrowing my books from the prison library.'

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Bryson also defended defended Mridul Wadhwa, the transgender former CEO of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre who quit after a damning report into the running of the facility was published.

It found she 'did not understand the limits of her authority' and rape survivors were not being prioritised nor where single sex services being protected.

Bryson said: 'She had every right to work there. She is a woman.' 

Bryson attacked one victim in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, in 2016, and another in Drumchapel, Glasgow in 2019. The sex attacker was jailed for eight years last February.

The rapist met both victims online, with prosecutors telling the trial that the vulnerable women were 'preyed on'. 

It comes after Police Scotland were last month forced to confirm it would not record a rapist as female because Scottish law defines rape as penetration by a penis without consent.

Chief Constable Jo Farrell also told Sky News: 'You can only commit that crime as a man' - and said there was no confusion about his force's policy.

But Sky claimed it had seen a leaked internal Police Scotland document named 'Sex and Gender' that included a section on Bryson and where the rapist could be recorded as female, including on the national crime database and sex offenders' register.

It reportedly said: 'When this individual comes back into contact with Police Scotland it would likely be a public protection matter in the management of sex offenders.

'In this instance they may be recorded as a female with the name Isla Bryson however the trans history would be appropriate to be retained on relevant policing systems.'

According to Sky, a police source told them that this would mean Bryson would likely be treated and referred to as a woman by the force.

Bryson said: 'They should log me as a woman, I am a woman with boobs.'

A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'This report from 2023 set out proposals on potential future recording practices and standards in relation to sex and gender from a data analysis perspective.

'The Chief Constable addressed the matter of gender self-identification at the Scottish Police Authority Board in September 2024, during which Police Scotland committed to a broader review.'

In September, Police Scotland told MSPs they should be 'absolutely assured' that a man who commits rape or serious sexual assault will always be recorded as male. 

It had previously sparked outrage when it told a Holyrood committee that the sex or gender identification of anyone who comes 'into contact' with the force would be based 'on how they present or how they self-declare'.