Ananova:

A convicted armed robber has undergone a £20,000 sex-change and will finish his sentence in a women's prison.

David Cross, 39, now known as Kelly Denise was jailed for 17 years in 1992 for a Post Office raid in which a postmaster and his baby son were injured, in Polegate, East Sussex.

Cross, serving his time at Parkhurst Prison, on the Isle of Wight, has undergone the NHS operation at the expense of the taxpayer, according to The Sun.

An officer at the all-male prison told the newspaper: "I can imagine that victims of crime will think the world has gone stark, staring mad. Cross almost killed a father and his baby son. There is no way taxpayers should stump up £20,000 for this."

The trans-sexual gunman was allegedly given his own double cell at the prison where he underwent electrolysis sessions to remove chest and leg hair. He was allowed to make regular trips to Charing Cross Hospital for consultations before the sex-change and doctors prescribed him female hormone drugs.

A source inside Parkhurst told The Sun: "He was strutting around the nick like some sort of beauty queen."

He is reported to be at an unidentified secure health centre awaiting a transfer to a female prison.

A spokesman for the Prison Service tonight said: "We cannot talk about specific cases. We can confirm that prisoners requesting treatment to change their sex would be treated in line with NHS guidelines.

"The Prison Service would take advice from the NHS about the timing and administration of treatment and the prisoner would be treated the same as any other NHS patient. The cost would not be born by the Prison Service."