A serial rapist and attempted murderer has begun identifying as a “woman” while in prison, where he says he has been denied “gender affirming” care by corrections officials. David Smith is serving an order of lifelong restriction after being convicted of 14 offenses, including 8 counts of rape and attempting to murder his pregnant girlfriend. He was also previously found guilty in England of indecently assaulting a 5-year-old child.
Smith has requested prison staff refer to him by the name “Attila Taylor” and is seeking out transgender medical procedures, a wig, and prosthetic breasts. Speaking with the Scottish Sun over the phone, Smith argued for his right to obtain whatever accommodations and accessories he pleased.
“The prison’s gender identity and reassignment policy clearly states things they have to allow me access to… That’s wigs, prosthetics and shaving equipment — and they have been trying to decline that at every possible opportunity,” he said. “I just want the access to be able to live in the body of a female before I have the surgery.”
Smith is currently begin held in MP Barlinnie prison, a men’s facility, and prison officials have been adamant that there is no possibility Smith will be moved to a female facility. This is the result of a 2023 revision to the prison guidelines in the UK which barred male prisoners with intact male genitalia or a conviction relating to sexual offenses from being housed in the female prison estate.
Curiously, during his interview, Smith complained that there were too many males pretending to be women. He blasted fellow Scottish rapist Adam Graham, also known as Isla Bryson, for making it more difficult for trans inmates to be moved to women’s prisons. Smith accused Bryson of being “male” and not being a real transgender individual.
“I fucking hate people that come out as trans and then don’t go through with it. To me that is not a trans woman, that is not a woman at all. That is still a male,” Smith said about Bryson.
Bryson, 32, made international headlines last year after he was placed in a female prison while awaiting trial on two counts of rape. He was referred to with feminine pronouns both in court and in UK media coverage, and court documents had referred to the rapes as having been carried out with a female penis.
Bryson was ultimately convicted on both counts in January of 2023, and his case helped to raise awareness of the issue of male rapists who identify as transgender being placed in women’s prisons. One month later, prison reforms would come into effect that were almost a direct result of backlash against Bryson’s placement in a women’s prison.
Smith stated he began identifying as female in 2022 but that the prison has refused to update his gender marker.
“I have NHS records that show when I came out as trans. The prison are refusing to change my gender on the computer and until they do, I can’t apply for a gender recognition certificate, so I’ll never be classed as female, irrelevant to surgery,” he told the Scottish Sun.
Smith was sentenced in 2018 to a minimum of 5 years in prison but was warned by the Judge Lord Kinclaven that he may never be freed. Smith’s ex girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time of the attack, waved her right to anonymity to describe the horrific abuse Smith had subjected her to.
Ashleigh Stewart, who was 29 at the time, was forced to jump 40 feet from a window onto concrete to escape Smith, who had been threatening her with a knife and hedge shears. Smith had attempted to stab and strangle his then-girlfriend to death, chasing the pregnant woman around his flat in a scene that was described by media as being reminiscent of “The Shining.” As Stewart fled the enraged Smith, he plunged a blade through the closed door narrowly missing the woman. The altercation began after Smith accused her of having smiled at a stranger.
“All of a sudden he turned and started smashing up the flat. He was calling me a cow and a slut and was threatening to kidnap my daughter. He spat on my face and grabbed me,” Stewart said, describing her traumatizing ordeal.
Stewart, who was 4 weeks pregnant with Smith’s child and had a child from a previous relationship, described how she had met Smith only 3 months before the attack. The relationship moved quickly, and once Stewart had moved in with him, Smith’s true violent nature began to show. Stewart recounted how her ex would get drunk, and both physically and sexually assault her. He was also extremely jealous and possessive.
“He started to accuse me of sleeping with people, slagging my family off. He was just a horrible person. Then he started getting violent and everything else,” Stewart said, describing her relationship with Smith.
The campaign of abuse cumulated in Smith chasing her around the flat screaming “I’ll kill you bitch.” Left with no other choice, Stewart threw herself out of a window in a desperate attempt to escape Smith’s murderous rage. She was left with six broken ribs, collapsed lungs, a fractured skull, a shattered breast bone, and a serious leg injury as a result.
“I only remember waking up on the ground and yelling for someone to call the police. David came out and pretended to be all nice but I was screaming for him to get away from me. Then I conked out again and I woke up in hospital the next day with pins and plates in my leg,” Stewart said regarding the fall.
“I was in excruciating pain — the bone came out through my leg. I am so grateful to be alive.”
Smith was finally arrested following the incident, but during the investigation it came to light he had abused and raped a second woman, a former partner, in multiple incidents between 2011 and 2015. The second victim told police that Smith was extremely jealous, often interrogating her about her whereabouts and locking her in his apartment.
The violent abuser was ultimately convicted of two counts of rape against the second victim. One incident took place in December of 2014, during which Smith punched and repeatedly kicked the woman. In another incident, he seized the victim by the throat and strangled her unconscious.
It was also revealed that Smith had a previous conviction for assaulting a 5-year-old in England.
As a result of his extensive and extremely violent history, a Judge determined that he met the criteria to be classified as a “high risk offender,” a label that was applied after he underwent a psychiatric evaluation. In response, Smith’s defense attorney argued that he was an “intelligent man” who has the “capacity for change.”
Smith was sentenced to a minimum term of five years in jail, but the sentence is effectively indefinite as he will only be released when parole authorities determine he serves no risk to the public.
Smith has also been placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.