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A former burglar who was given a £20,000 sex change operation on the NHS in prison says she deserved her free treatment - and accused the health service of wasting money treating cancer patients.

Jasmine Goode, who was previously a man called Darren, was part-way through an 11 year sentence for burglary when she began the treatment to turn her into a woman.

She is now out of jail and defending her free treatment, telling The Sun "it was not wrong that I was given help".

She said: "I had gender dysphoria - a condition that made me feel like I'd been born in the wrong body.

"The NHS wastes money helping people with cancer, often smokers, even though their condition is terminal and they are going to die, whereas I've got lots of years left to live."

The 37-year-old said that being transgender was just as life threatening as cancer, with a high level of suicide among the transgender community.

She also said she would be costing tax payers even more money if the NHS had refused to treat her - because she would be unable to work and be on benefits.

Jasmine, from North Wales, was born "intersex", with both male and female genitals.

Despite initially being raised as a girl called Sarah-Jane, she became Darren at the age of eight.

She claims she turned to a life of crime because of her body issues, and that breaking the law made her feel more macho.

Darren was 18 when he first went to prison for burglary, and was in and out of prison throughout the 1990s.

In 2006 he was sent down for 11 years for a series of burglaries, and it was three months into his sentence that he told prison staff he wanted to become Jasmine.

Darren applied for NHS cash to fund gender reassignment treatment. He was given hormone tablets to make his breasts grow, and six months later the NHS gave him £18,000, some of which went towards hair removal treatment.

He then had a further £2,000 for surgery to complete the sex change, although Jasmine funded a boob job herself.

She told The Sun: "People might be angry, but I had a condition that needed treating.

"I feel awful about my criminal past and I'm so sorry to those I hurt during that time."