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A transgender inmate says she was branded “it” by a prison officer and banned from mixing with other lags in a women’s jail .

Distraught Shantelle Taylor, 24, was left in tears during her two weeks on remand at Cornton Vale prison, near Stirling.

She is now calling on the Scottish Prison Service to review their policy on transgender inmates. And she has offered to meet prison officers to give them advice.

Shantelle, who has not yet had her gender reassignment surgery but is on hormone therapy , says she was not allowed inside other inmates’ cells because of her gender status.

(Image: Daily Record)

She told the Daily Record : “There was one officer who I felt was constantly antagonising me and shouting at me in front of everyone.

“One day when I was coming back to my cell, another prisoner shouted a question to me so I replied and he turned around and said, ‘He, she or whatever it is needs to keep quiet.’

“I just burst into tears in front of the whole hall which isn’t like me because I’m a strong person.

“If someone said that to you on the outside, you’d be able to challenge them. But this was a prison officer.

“I didn’t report it even though a lot of the other girls told me to because I knew nothing would really be done about it.

“The other officers who heard it tried to say he wasn’t talking about me but he had said it in front of everyone.”

(Image: PA)

Shantelle, who first realised she was transgender at the age of 13, added: “I wasn’t allowed to go into the cells with other inmates. I had to sit at the door because of my gender status.

“I’ve no interest in women – I’ve been with my partner for over three years now. Standing in the hall while all the others were inside their cells made me feel really uncomfortable.

“I felt like I wasn’t getting treated the way I should have been by the prison service.

“When I went in, they said to me that I was a female and I’d be treated like one but I wasn’t.

“I’d like to use my experience to go back to the prison and support transgender prisoners and work with the officers to help improve their understanding.”

(Image: PA Archive/Press Association Images)

Shantelle, who has battled drugs and alcohol, was held at the prison after being arrested following a drunken rammy at a homeless hostel in Glasgow.

She pleaded guilty to threatening and abusive behaviour and had sentence deferred to December 5 for her to be of good behaviour.

She has vowed to turn her life around and has moved to Fife for a fresh start with her partner.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: “We take the issues of equality and diversity very seriously.

“We have very well established policies to ensure individuals are treated with respect and dignity. We are advised in those policies by, among others, the Scottish Transgender Alliance.”

In 2013, transgender killer Paris Green was moved from Cornton Vale after claims she was having sex with fellow inmates.

At the time, Green, who is awaiting surgery, had just been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 18 years, for her part in a torture-murder.

Earlier this year, she was moved again after similar allegations during her time in the female facility at HMP Edinburgh.

Inmates at Cornton Vale have previously claimed murderer Alex Stewart was lying to prison bosses about being transgender.

They said he took on the female identity to get special treatment behind bars.