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The extraordinary lengths of deception Gayle Newland went to seduce her victim have been laid bare in the sexual assault case which has captivated the nation.

On Thursday, the 27-year-old was jailed at Manchester Crown Court for six-and-a-half years after a jury found her guilty of committing three sexual assaults – all of which she denied – using a prosthetic penis.

Newland created an online persona of a man called Kye Fortune to seduce her friend while at the same time befriending the victim in her true identity, Liverpool Echo reports.

The victim fell in love with ‘Kye' Fortune and was manipulated into agreeing to wear a blindfold at all times they were together, as he felt embarrassed about his body following treatment for a brain tumour.

(Image: PA)

Newland, of Willaston, Neston, used bandages and a swimsuit to hide her body claiming they were related to Kye’s cancer treatment.

But the woman never suspected her friend Gayle and boyfriend Kye were the same person – even after around 10 sexual encounters using the strap-on sex toy.

Newland was re-convicted of three counts of sexual assault by a jury at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday – on a majority decision of 11 to one for each charge.

She had originally been found guilty in 2015, but had the conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2016 after the original judge failed to sum up the evidence to the jury fairly.

We look back on some of the key features of the re-trial:

The victim’s account

The young female victim came forward in June 2013, two days after ripping off her blindfold during sex to find “Gayle just standing there with a strap-on.”

She claimed her troubled upbringing and a previous violent relationship meant she was “desperate to be loved” and that she believed Kye was a genuine person.

She told police: “We had built this beautiful relationship that was not based on (sex), it was just based on our minds and all the other things we had in common. I felt grateful I had finally got a proper relationship compared with a relationship full of domestic abuse.”

She told the court she was not allowed to touch Kye during sex and suggested she had her hands tied behind her back.

Nigel Power, QC, defending, grilled the woman on the fact her hands being tied had never been mentioned before the second trial.

She was also probed on how she could not realise her friend and boyfriend were the same person, and being unclear whether she first met Kye in person at her flat or in a hotel.

(Image: PA)

Gayle’s version of events

Newland denied any attempt to deceive the victim, claiming the pair had been in a normal yet secretive lesbian relationship.

She said she created the Kye account aged 15 to speak to girls online as she felt uncomfortable with her sexuality.

Newland claimed she told the victim about the Kye profile after meeting her in a nightclub, where they told each other they were gay but that none of their friends knew.

She said a relationship developed but that she communicated with her girlfriend as Kye as part of an “extended role-play.”

She told the jury: “One of the reasons was that neither of us was out as gay; neither of us comfortable with our sexualities.

“It’s fair to say both of us were genuinely struggling with it. It was like two stupid girls really experimenting with our sexualities if that makes sense. It felt a bit different, it was a bit of fun.”

Newland said the relationship broke down a week after she told the victim she was coming out as gay to her parents – and that the victim suddenly began making accusations.

(Image: PA)

The ‘confession’

One of the strongest elements of the prosecution case centred around Newland’s own messages to the victim after her ruse was discovered.

In an email entitled ‘Explanation as best I can right now’ Newland stated: “I know Kye is who I am, it’s my personality... I had to make up lies to cover up the initial lie. It turned from a seed into a tree. I felt guilty everyday but I knew you needed me.”

In court she claimed she was confused by the victim’s accusations and was “willing to admit to anything.”

She said: “I felt depressed because I had lost her, I felt guilty for the situation we had both created, I felt bad that I had not encouraged us to be open about being together, I felt guilty like she blamed me for being gay, I was so confused.”

(Image: PA)

Suicide bid

Hours after the mask was ripped off, Newland attempted suicide by jumping off a canal bridge in Mollington, Chester.

She was found in a distressed state by members of the public, who alerted the emergency services.

The jury heard she slipped into hypothermia and had her clothes removed by paramedics, who found a swimsuit underneath.

The prosecution claimed the swimming gear matched the victim’s description of the “circulation suit” Kye said he had to wear due to his cancer treatement.

Newland claimed she used to go swimming after visiting her partner but wore the swimsuit underneath her clothes to avoid having to get changed in the gym.

The court also heard Newland told a police officer: “I have done something I shouldn’t and now my friend can’t forgive me.”

History of deception

The uncontested witness statement of another young woman, who began speaking to Kye Fortune in 2009, proved that Newland was willing to draw people into false relationships .

The witness described falling in love with Kye online but being fobbed off with excuses, including about cancer treatment, whenever she pushed to meet.

Newland made no attempt to meet the woman in person, but allowed a relationship to develop even in 2014 while on police bail for offences against the original victim.

The witness described Kye forwarding on naked pictures of the original victim and even claiming she friend had made false allegations against him when he rejected her advances.

‘No comment’ and changing story

Simon Medland, QC, prosecuting, asked Newland if a blindfold had ever been used during sex with the victim to which she replied: “Never.”

However he pointed out that in a defence case statement, made before the first trial, Newland had stated: “There were times when the scarf or blindfold slipped down and allowed (victim) the opportunity to see the defendant.”

Newland claimed she did not believe the victim would go through with the prosecution and made the statement to “offer her a way out, an Olive branch almost.”

Mr Medland also asked why Newland answered ‘no comment’ to all questions in her police interviews, rather than challenging the victim’s story.

Newland said she had taken her solicitor’s advice at the time.

The jury took 17 hours to reach their decision.