Sex-change soldier set to join police force
Stonehaven ex-squaddie to join police force
Published:
A Stonehaven paratrooper who swapped guns for glamour to become a woman was today thought to be joining the police force.
Former Army Captain Jan Hamilton could soon be pounding the beat as a police officer in one of Scotland’s most crime-ridden areas.
Now called Abigail Austin, she left the Army after 20 years of service to endure a series of gruelling sex change operations.
According to reports, the 6ft, size 12 transsexual was now preparing to work at Glasgow’s Maryhill Police Station.
Originally from Stonehaven, she changed her name twice – born Ian Hamilton she became Jan Hamilton then Abigail Austin.
She attended Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen and went on to win medals serving with the Parachute Regiment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
She began a career in the Army at Sandhurst in 1983 at the age of 18.
Abigail retrained as a camera operator in 1987 before returning to the army and becoming a Paratrooper.
When she left the Army she won a compensation pay out for sexual discrimination after she was refused permission to wear a woman’s uniform.
Abigail, who is now legally recognised as a woman, became the first British Army officer to undergo a sex change and appeared on a TV documentary in 2008 called Sex Change Soldier.
Abigail, who was married for 10 years, was expected to begin working with the police within weeks.
It was thought she will start on a salary of £21,000 a year and train at Strathclyde Police’s Training and Recruitment Centre in Lanarkshire.
A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: “We cannot discuss officers’ personal details. The force encourages applications from diverse sections of the community.”
Abigail was not available for comment today.
