Killer jailed for life to have £45,000 sex-change operation 'funded by the taxpayer'
A man who killed a prostitute after she mocked his performance is to have a £45,000 sex-change operation in prison funded by the taxpayer.
Matthew Richardson, 55, stabbed 13st grandmother Margaret Bolingbroke, 65, in a frenzied attack after paying her for sex 25 years ago.
He was jailed for life for the murder in Brighton and was most recently being contained at Blantyre House jail in Goudhurst, Kent.
Matthew Richardson is currently being held at Blantyre House jail in Kent
But it has emerged that the lifer is to undergoing hormone treatment as he builds up to the costly operation which will be funded through the taxpayer.
Last week Richardson, a former kissogram, was spotted dressed as a woman during a temporary release from the prison.
He is reported to have been helping at a charity shop in Maidstone, Kent as part of his rehabilitation where he wore ear studs, a pink body warmer and a white top.
His dark grey hair had been grown in a bob style and he wore light-rimmed glasses.
When approached and asked if the public should pay for his sex-change operation, he replied in a husky voice: 'Absolutely no comment'.
A source at Blantyre prison told The Sun: 'This is a men's prison so it's not easy. And from next week sex-swap inmates can wear dresses, padded bras and make up - and we have to call them Miss or Ms.'
A spokesman for the TaxPayers Alliance said: 'It is unfair that law-abiding patients face a postcode lottery for care.'
The Department of Health spokesman said: 'Transsexual prisoners have the right to receive the same range and quality of NHS treatments as anyone else including treatment for gender re-assignment.'
Earlier this month jails were told that sex-change inmates must be allowed access to padded bras and make-up to cover stubble growth.
They should also be able to purchase 'gender appropriate' clothing from a home shopping catalogue, according to a detailed set of instructions circulated by the Ministry of Justice.
The mandatory guidelines, which come into force next week, state: 'An establishment must permit prisoners who consider themselves transsexual and wish to begin gender reassignment to live permanently in their acquired gender.'
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