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Gayle Newland: Sex attacker who posed as man found guilty Gayle Newland: Sex attacker who posed as man found guilty
(about 3 hours later)
A woman has been convicted of impersonating a man for more than two years in an "astonishing deception" to trick her female friend into sex.A woman has been convicted of impersonating a man for more than two years in an "astonishing deception" to trick her female friend into sex.
Gayle Newland, 27, of Willaston, Cheshire, created a "disturbingly complex" online persona to achieve her own "bizarre sexual satisfaction".Gayle Newland, 27, of Willaston, Cheshire, created a "disturbingly complex" online persona to achieve her own "bizarre sexual satisfaction".
A retrial jury at Manchester Crown Court found her guilty of committing sexual assault by using a prosthetic penis without her victim's consent.A retrial jury at Manchester Crown Court found her guilty of committing sexual assault by using a prosthetic penis without her victim's consent.
She will be sentenced on 20 July.She will be sentenced on 20 July.
'Emotionally vulnerable' The complainant, who gave evidence behind a curtain, told the court she was persuaded by the defendant to wear a blindfold at all times when they met, and only found out she was having sex with Newland - rather than a man - when she finally took off her mask.
The Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Stockdale QC, granted Newland bail ahead of sentencing but told her the "overwhelming likelihood" was that she would receive "a significant immediate custodial sentence". She said she thought she was having sex with Kye Fortune - a fake Facebook profile Newland created at the age of 15 using an American man's photographs and videos.
Newland was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and cleared of a fourth count. She was told by the judge she would have to sign the sex offenders register. The complainant said Kye told her he was undergoing treatment for cancer and was paranoid about his physical appearance.
Newland said she created the Facebook profile of Kye Fortune - using an American man's photographs and videos - at the age of 15, because she found it difficult to talk to girls in person. She told the court she agreed to his demands for her to wear a blindfold, consisting of a sleeping mask and a light scarf, because she was in love.
When giving evidence behind a curtain, the "emotionally vulnerable" complainant said Kye told her he was undergoing treatment for cancer and was paranoid about his physical appearance.
She agreed to his demands for her to wear a blindfold, consisting of a sleeping mask and a light scarf, because she was in love, she said.
The complainant, also in her mid 20s, said: "There was no point until the day I took the blindfold off that I thought for one second that a woman was the person behind this."The complainant, also in her mid 20s, said: "There was no point until the day I took the blindfold off that I thought for one second that a woman was the person behind this."
She said she received a Facebook friend request from Kye, who shared the same birthday and interests as the defendant. Prosecutor Simon Medland QC asked her: "To who were you consenting?"
She said Kye introduced her to Newland as his best friend. The complainant replied: "With Kye Fortune. The person I knew from the photos, the person I had spoken to, the person I shared all my dreams with, the person who I thought was half-Filipino half-Latino."
Mr Medland asked her: "To who were you consenting? Newland, who graduated from the University of Chester with a degree in marketing and creative writing, told the court the pair met in a nightclub in 2011.
She replied: "With Kye Fortune. The person I knew from the photos, the person I had spoken to, the person I shared all my dreams with, the person who I thought was half-Filipino half-Latino." Newland claimed the complainant knew about the Kye Fortune persona and the pair began communicating in character.
Newland, who graduated from the University of Chester with a degree in marketing and creative writing, told the court the complainant approached her in a nightclub in 2011 and asked her if she was gay. 'Manipulative'
She said: "I said I was not comfortable with it. She told me she was gay too. The defendant told the court she never dressed as a man and no blindfold was ever used when they had intercourse on about 10 occasions at the complainant's flat in Chester.
"She was not comfortable with it and no-one knew. There was common ground straightaway." Newland claimed her accuser always knew she was pretending to be Kye as they engaged in role play while struggling with their sexuality.
Newland's version of events was that she then drunkenly told the woman about the Kye Fortune persona and the pair began communicating in character. Mr Medland QC said: "This manipulative, deceitful and very crafty young woman went to such astonishing lengths to control the complainant's life and make her do the things the defendant wanted her to do."
The pair finally met up in character in 2013 but the defendant told the court she never dressed as a man and no blindfold was ever used. Newland was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and cleared of a fourth count. She was told by the judge she would have to sign the sex offenders register.
The Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Stockdale QC, granted Newland bail ahead of sentencing but told her the "overwhelming likelihood" was that she would receive "a significant immediate custodial sentence".
The verdicts can be reported after reporting restrictions imposed at the start of the retrial were lifted.
Newland was jailed for eight years in November 2015 after she was convicted of the same offences by another jury at Chester Crown Court.
The conviction was quashed in the Court of Appeal in December and a retrial was ordered after it was ruled that the trial judge's summing up of the case was not fair and balanced.