Herschell was initially remanded on the two rape charges in October 2016 as a man named Aaron and reported as the first prisoner in Scotland to seek gender reassignment while awaiting trial for sex offences, having never declared trans status previously. Herschell was reportedly held in a segregation unit at HMYOI Polmont while on remand rather than in the section reserved for female prisoners.

In common with staff at HMP Glenochil housing Andrew Burns, female prison staff raised concerns with management and their union regarding being “ordered to carry out rubdown searches on the prisoner when necessary”, fearing they may lose their job if they refuse. HMYOI Polmont does not have full body scanners, so intimate searches (by a guard of the same sex) are a necessary part of the routine. A source told the Daily Record “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.”

*Update 2021*

Herschell, 24,  was sentenced to 14 months in prison at Livingston Sheriff Court in November 2021 for breaching a Risk of Sexual Harm Order. 

Herschell admitted he had been in the company of children under the age of 16 at a house in Livingston, West Lothian on May 16 and 17, 2021 despite being banned from doing so under the terms of the order. 

This was the third time Herschell had failed to comply with public safety orders; after completing the sentence for attempted rape he was returned to prison after breaching the conditions of his licence within a few weeks of being released in October 2018. 

In May 2020, the Daily Mail reports that Herschell was made subject to the strict conditions of a Risk of Sexual Harm Order but he breached that by deleting a dating app and chat records from his phone and computer between 30 October and 10 December 2019, blaming alcohol for his actions.

Herschell will serve his sentence in HMP Addiewell in West Lothian, an all-male facility, and was told his name would remain on the sex offenders’ register for the next 10 years. 

Photo of Herschell via Daily Record