CONVICTED transgender rapist Isla Bryson tried to join a self defence class for victims of sexual assault in Ardrossan.

But the controversial trans prisoner was rejected by the town’s Scottish Centre for Personal Safety.

Bryson, believed to be living in the Three Towns at the time, contacted the centre back in September 2021 – after previously being in contact with the Herald for a potential article about herself.

The 31-year-old approached the Scottish Centre for Personal Safety just weeks after her identity was changed on court documents from Adam Graham to Isla Bryson.

She also spent three months in 2021 as a student on a beauty therapy course at Ayrshire College’s Kilwinning campus, where she was known to fellow students as Annie.

The Ardrossan centre’s boss Alan Bell told how they didn’t offer their services after she failed safeguarding checks – but added the centre had no way of knowing of her crimes.

He told the Herald: “Our charity is a great advocate of diversity and inclusion.

“This person visited us claiming that, because she was a trans woman, she was bullied and harassed at college and physically attacked.

“This individual failed our screening process and our services were not offered.

“At this stage, back in 2021, there was no way either our charity, or the college for that matter, would know about any rape convictions as the court case hadn’t happened yet.

“Apparently, she had been charged, but we would have no way of knowing this.

“There has been a lot of speculation that either we didn’t let her access our services because we knew she was a convicted rapist – or that we knew of her convictions. Neither of these are true.”

Bryson was convicted last month of raping two women, one in Clydebank in 2016 and one in Drumchapel, Glasgow, in 2019, committing the offences while still a man, known as Adam Graham.

The case sparked an uproar after Bryson was initially housed in an all-female prison before being moved to a male jail. The court heard that Bryson is currently taking hormones and seeking surgery to complete gender reassignment.

Her mother told a national newspaper at the weekend that her child gave no indication of being transgender while growing up.

Rape survivor Janet Bryson said: “I understand why some people think it’s just a way of getting out of going to a male prison.”