A TRANSSEXUAL cleared of a human torch murder and jailed for an axe attack said yesterday: ''I've never been a gangster and I'm certainly not the Glasgow godmother.''

William Wotherspoon, who is undergoing treatment for a sex change and was charged under the name Lisa Docherty, yesterday appeared from custody at Hamilton Sheriff Court on motoring offences dating back to 1997.

Wotherspoon, 29, of Sunnyside Avenue, Holytown, Lanarkshire, was freed at the High Court in 1995, after being cleared of the murder of father-of-two Francis McMillan, who died 17 days after being doused with petrol and set on fire at his flat in Mossend, Lanarkshire.

In September 1996, he attacked James Hunter with an axe. He was freed from an 18-month sentence pending an appeal but was sent back to Barlinnie Prison last month, when the appeal at the High Court in Edinburgh failed.

While on appeal he appeared at the court in Hamilton dressed as a woman. Yesterday, he appeared from custody dressed as a man.

He had previously admitted driving while disqualified and breaching bail and community service conditions and was sentenced to three months, to run concurrently, and is due for release on April 18 next year.

Through lawyer Gerry Bonnar, he said yesterday: ''I am pleased at the outcome of the case today. I have never considered myself as a gangster and I am certainly not the Glasgow godmother.''