Downing Street has voiced concerns after it emerged a transgender woman convicted of raping two women while she was a man is being held in a women’s prison.

Isla Bryson was on Tuesday found guilty of raping one woman in Clydebank in 2016 and another in Drumchapel in 2019, following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

It is understood she is being held at Cornton Vale women’s prison in Stirling while awaiting sentence for the crimes, which she committed before she began transitioning to become a woman.

Concerns have been raised by SNP, Labour and Conservative politicians at the decision to hold Bryson on remand at a women's prison.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said it decides where to send transgender prisoners “on an individualised basis, informed by a multi-disciplinary assessment of both risk and need”.

It comes after the UK Government blocked controversial gender reform legislation in Scotland which would speed up and simplify the process for trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC).

Commenting on the Bryson case on Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This is a case in which the courts are yet to hand down a sentence so I’m not going to give anything on the specifics.

“I’ve seen the reporting and understand the concerns.”

Asked about the general policy, he said: “The UK has a policy which sees the prison service in England and Wales manage transgender prisoners on a case-by-case basis and transgender women must go through a robust risk assessment which factors in their offending history and anatomy before they can be moved to a women’s prison.”

Bryson’s bail was revoked following the jury's guilty verdict on Tuesday.

She has been remanded in custody until February 28 to allow the trial judge, Lord Scott, to gather “as much information as possible” on her before deciding her sentencing.