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A woman accused of duping her female lover into having sex while disguised as a man was found guilty of three sex assaults.

A jury found Gayle Newland, 25, guilty at Chester Crown Court

Newland was accused of ordering her lover to wear a blindfold and scarf during their two-year tryst - using a prosthetic penis during intercourse.

Newland, of Hooton Road in Willaston, Neston, had denied that she had tricked the complainant, using the persona of Kye Fortune, and claimed her partner always knew she was a woman.

She told a jury at Chester Crown Court that the couple were acting out a “sexual fantasy”.

Newland, who denied wearing bandages to hide her breasts, or deliberately hiding behind her alter ego Kye Fortune, insisted they were both aware of the truth.

She was found guilty of a specimen count relating to multiple sexual assaults, and two specific sex assaults on June 30, 2013.

Newland was cleared of sexual assault at a hotel in February and a further charge relating to an alleged sexual assault in March.

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The court had heard that Newland put a woolly hat on for her disguise, claimed she was hiding her body because she had a tumour and embarrassing muscle wastage, and explained away her high-pitched voice by saying she was half-Filipino and half-Asian.

It was alleged that she was caught out when her partner ripped off her mask to see the woman standing over her using the sex toy.

But Newland told the jury: “She knew from the get go, from the beginning that Kye was a girl.

“My main reason why I spoke as Kye was for her.

“I knew better than anyone...if she wanted to hide her sexuality I would allow her to do that.

“The second reason was I had spoken as Kye since I was 13.

“I was not confident enough to come out and say I was a lesbian.”

Newland said the first meeting with the woman and Kye happened on Valentine’s Day 2013.

But she said it was the woman who pushed to become more intimate and buy the sex toy.

She said: “She had always talked about having sex and stuff and it was not something I was ready for.

“She told me to look online and there are things you can buy.

“It sounds silly but she told me to get it.”