A TEENAGER accused of two rapes has told prison staff he wants to live as a woman.

Officers are in uproar over Aaron Herschell, 18, the first Scots prisoner to seek gender reassignment while awaiting trial for sex offences.

Herschell was remanded in custody as a man.

But now the inmate wants to live as a woman and be called Alexis.

And female officers at Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution in Falkirk have already been ordered to carry out “rubdown” searches on the prisoner when necessary.

But they are concerned that jail bosses have issued the orders despite Herschell facing such serious sex offence charges.

They have also pointed out that, unlike other transgender inmates who have been held within the Scottish prison system, Herschell has never previously lived as a female.

It is understood Herschell is likely to be held in a segregation unit at Polmont.

But because the YOI – where one hall has recently taken in female inmates while Cornton Vale women’s prison is remodelled – does not have full body scanners, intimate searches are a vital part of the routine.

Officers have already raised the issue with union bosses amid fears their jobs could be on the line if they refuse to carry out such searches on Herschell.

A source said: “It appears that this prisoner woke up in his cell one day last week and decided he was a woman.

“It’s not the first time there has been a transgender offender in prison and there are detailed protocols in place to deal with it.

“But this is the first time in Scottish prisons that an alleged rapist has been jailed on remand as a man and may appear in court to face the charges as a woman.”

At a meeting of members of the Prison Officers’ Association at Polmont last week, around 50 wardens discussed the issue.

The source said: “This person appears to have decided on a whim to change gender and the prison bosses have immediately given it the OK, with no regard to how female officers might feel.

“There have been times in the past where people have changed gender before prison and these types of concerns have come into play but this one will challenge the Scottish Prison Service’s ability to deal with problems like this.

“No one would wish to have to carry out any kind of intimate search on a prisoner whose alleged criminal sexual behaviour will be at the centre of a High Court trial.”

(Image: PA)

The Scottish Prison Service are to have a meeting on the case next month. It is thought the sensitivity of this case could mean Herschell is held in a segregation block until the rape case comes to trial, allowing staff to review the prisoner’s state of mind.

Any decision to segregate a prisoner would have to be made by governor Sue Brookes and rubber stamped by Justice Minister Michael Matheson.

The source said female remand prisoners would normally be held alongside convicted female inmates at Polmont’s Blair Hall, where cells remain open during recreation periods and prisoners can enter each other’s rooms.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: “We treat people according to the gender they choose and have guidelines that respect the dignity of everyone involved in the process of dealing with them within a prison.

“Anyone who decides they wish to change gender would be supported with the appropriate counselling to make them make an informed decision.”

A Crown Office spokesman said that any prisoner changing gender before a court trial would be

dealt with by procedures that are already in place.