A transgender woman who stalked the surgeon that carried out her gender reassignment procedure is being held in a female prison.
Vivienne Taylor, 28, was handed a 14-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to causing serious alarm or distress and stalking.
It was previously heard at Isleworth Crown Court that Taylor stalked Dr Tina Rashid over four years, impacting her work, family and social life.
Shortly after undergoing reassignment surgery in Putney, London, in 2021, the 28-year-old purchased Dr Rashid a cake as a thank-you gesture.
Taylor also kept dozens of pictures of the senior urological surgeon on her phone and developed a ‘fixation’ on the medical professional, before being sectioned.
The transgender woman was admitted to Chelsea and Westminster hospital with ‘complications’ and demanded to be treated by Dr Rashid.
Here, she threatened to take her own life if she was not treated by the surgeon.
It was also heard that Taylor turned up at Dr Rashid’s place of work, alleging she was under the doctor’s care.
She also sent the medical professional unwarranted emails suggesting they should ‘catch up’ and also attempted to connect with her on LinkedIn.
And on one occasion, the 28-year-old threatened to ‘batter’ the highly respected surgeon.
Vivienne Taylor, 28, pleaded guilty to causing seriuos alarm or distress and stalking Dr Tina Rashid
A general view of HMP Downview, a women’s prison where Vivienne Taylor is currently serving a 14-month prison sentence
It was previously heard that Dr Rashid was left suffering with ‘anxiety most days’ and fearing for her safety amid Taylor’s obsession.
Judge Giles Curtis-Raleigh imposed an ‘exceptional’ restraining order with no time limit when sentencing Taylor earlier this month.
The judge added that the 28-year-old’s crime had impacted ‘every aspect’ of the surgeon’s life. ‘She has suffered very real fear,’ he said.
Now, Conservative MP Rebecca Paul is ‘urgently looking into’ the move to place Taylor at HMP Downview, a women’s prison in Surrey.
It is understood that Taylor is being kept on a specialist wing for inmates who were born biologically male but identify as women.
The separate specialist unit, E Wing, is the only one of its kind in the prison and is ‘designed to accommodate transgender women assessed as being too high risk to be held in the general women’s estate, but also at risk from other prisoners in the men’s estate.
Prisoners in this unit remain separated from the wider population, but in ‘some circumstances’ participate in supervised activities with the rest of the prison.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘There is a separate unit for transgender prisoners at HMP Downview isolated from the main female population.’
