Transgender woman Davina Ayrton sent to male prison after rape conviction

Davina Ayrton was found guilty of attacking a 15-year-old girl in 2004 before she transitioned

Davina Aryton outside Portsmouth Crown Court (PA)

A trans woman has been remanded to a male prison after being found guilty of rape.

Davina Ayrton was found guilty of attacking a 15-year-old girl in 2004 before she transitioned following a weeklong trial at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Judge Ian Pearson remanded Ayrton to a male prison until she was sentenced on 13 March because he feared she would be either a risk to herself or would fail to attend.

The court heard the 34-year-old had attempted to kill herself last summer.

Justice Pearson conceded it was “a slightly unusual” and “not easy” case but she would have to go to a male prison in Winchester and “it will be an issue for the prison service”.

The victim described how she had run away from home and met up with Ayrton and two other friends to drink in a garage.

She said she had screamed and shouted at Ayrton to stop during the rape but failed to wake her friend and her boyfriend who were sleeping nearby.

The case came to light in 2014, when Ayrton - who has learning difficulties - told a care worker where she was living at the Heywood Summer House care home in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.

Ayrton denied telling the care worker about the incident.

She also denied saying was a “paedophile” and that she had “always known there was something wrong with her”.

The court heard how Ayrton had previously been convicted on one count of possessing indecent images of children at Bournemouth Crown Court in January 2014.

Ayrton told the court she had not undergone surgery or taken any medication since she began transitioning three years ago but lives as a woman.

Her defence barrister, Ann-Marie Talbot declined to comment on Ayrton’s status as she left the court but a court officer said the prison had been told and was making special preparations for Ayrton’s arrival.

Additional reporting by PA