TRANSGENDER rapist Isla Bryson has still not accepted responsibility for attacks on two women, a judge has said.

The 31-year-old from Clydebank was jailed for eight years on Tuesday, and will be tightly supervised for another three years in the community.

Bryson, who identifies as a transgender woman, was convicted in January of rapes in Clydebank and Drumchapel while a man named Adam Graham.

In his sentencing statement at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Scott said any vulnerabilities in Bryson's background were "no excuse" - and that the rapist's refusal to accept responsibility for the crimes posed more of a threat to the community.

Bryson will be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Lord Scott said: "The seriousness of these crimes far outweighs considerations arising from your circumstances.

"Your vulnerability is no excuse at all for what you did to these two women in in 2016 and 2019.

"Regardless of your own vulnerability, in a period of just under 3 years, you raped two women who can both be regarded as vulnerable."

The judge said Bryson preyed on the women and raped them in their own homes, where they were "entitled to feel entirely safe".

In assessments made by experts after the conviction, Bryson continued to "vehemently deny" committing either offence.

Lord Scott said: "Without any foundation, you claim to believe that the two victims may know each other and have colluded in their claims.

"You have constructed an alternative account of events which was rejected by the jury. I will therefore ignore it. You see yourself as the victim in this situation. You are not."

Bryson poses a "high risk of reconviction of sexual offending", he said, and there would need to be a "significantly high level of supervision and monitoring" upon release.

A report on Bryson said there would need to be a "level of acceptance to allow any intervention to be successful".

Lord Scott said: "You are not yet at the stage of accepting what you did or acknowledging responsibility for the serious harm you have inflicted on two vulnerable women.

"That means that the question of risk is a real issue which must be addressed as part of the sentence."

Bryson had three "relatively minor" previous convictions, the judge noted.

In mitigation, Bryson's lawyer told the court his client had had "troubled early years"

Lord Scott continued: "Having regard to the whole circumstances of the case, in particular the gravity of the charges, only a custodial sentence is appropriate.

"It is necessary to punish you and to seek to deter you and others from behaving in this way and in particular to protect the public from you.    

"Having considered the pattern of offending, the gravity of your crimes and the insights in the various reports, I consider that the question of how best to protect the public arises.

"I am concerned to ensure that the public is adequately protected against serious harm from you when you are released from prison.

"It is plain that you present a particularly significant risk to any woman with whom you form a relationship.

"Having reflected carefully on all of the circumstances, in my judgement the normal period of licence would not be enough to protect the public from serious harm from you."