A transgender woman who raped a teenager while still living as a man has been jailed for eight years.

The 15-year-old girl was attacked by Davina Ayrton - then called David - in a garage in 2004.
Ayrton, 34, denied the assault but was found guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court.

She was placed on the sex offenders register for life. Judge Ian Pearson described the rape as "traumatic" and said the "scars and effects will never leave" the victim.

During the trial the court heard the victim screamed and shouted during the attack and told Ayrton to stop.

In a statement, she said: "As the years have passed, I have never forgotten the incident, how he forced himself on me, I was hysterical and I lived in fear all the time.

"I thought I was a real tough cookie but clearly I wasn't."

The prosecution was brought after a care worker reported Ayrton had confessed to the crime and told them she felt like a "paedophile" who had "always known there was something wrong with me and I need help".

Ann-Marie Talbot, defending, said Ayrton was abused as a child and was sorry for what she has done.

The defendant said she had not "made any physical changes or enhancements" to her body or taken any medication. She changed her name in 2012.

At the end of the trial the judge said it was likely Ayrton would be held at a male prison.

BBC News