Trans woman Davina Ayrton found guilty of 2004 rape Published duration 8 January 2016

image copyright PA image caption The victim said she was attacked by Davina Ayrton (pictured smoking) at a garage

A transgender woman has been found guilty of raping a girl when still living as a man.

The girl, aged 15 at the time, had met a man called David Ayrton in a Portsmouth garage in the autumn of 2004.

The defendant, now 34 and called Davina, denied the charge. She will be sentenced on 4 March.

Judge Ian Pearson remanded her into custody and said it was likely she would be held at a male prison.

He added: "If I were to release on bail there are substantial grounds to believe she would be a risk to herself and a risk of failing to attend for whatever reason.

"I will therefore have to remand in custody. It will have to be a male prison in Winchester but it will be an issue for the prison service."

He also told the jury at Portsmouth Crown Court: "It's been a slightly unusual case and it's not been an easy case."

Shouted and swore

The court heard that Ayrton, who has learning difficulties, attempted to commit suicide last summer.

Protocols have been put in place for her detention at the prison, a court officer explained.

During the trial Ayrton spoke about her sexuality, and said she she had not "made any physical changes or enhancements" to her body or taken any medication. She changed her name in 2012.

Portsmouth Crown Court was told she raped the teenager while two others were asleep in the garage.

The victim said she shouted and swore at Ayrton to stop the attack, but her friends had not woken up.

She had "only drunk a can and a half of Foster's" and clearly recollected the events.

The court heard that in 2014 Ayrton told a worker at the care home where she lived in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, about the attack.