Paris Green will be moved from Edinburgh prison to a hospital in Brighton to undergo surgery

A transgender murderer serving a life sentence in prison has been given the go-ahead to have gender reassignment surgery paid for by the NHS.

In a move that has been described by prison officers as a “security nightmare”, Paris Green will be escorted on a 1,000-mile round-trip from a prison in Scotland to a hospital in the south of England. Under 24-hour guard, she will then undergo surgery and a period of recovery lasting up to two weeks, a process that will cost tens of thousands of pounds.

Green, who has identified as a woman since 2011, was jailed for life in 2013 for murdering a man who, along with two accomplices, she tortured, sexually assaulted and beat to death.

Prison sources revealed last week