It's more important than ever to stay informed - Get the free CheshireLive newsletter direct to your inbox Subscribe here Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The ‘extraordinary’ case of a woman who tricked her female friend into sex using a fake penis was described by lawyers as ‘the strangest’ they had ever done.

Gayle Newland, 25, seduced the victim over the internet using the male facebook profile Kye Fortune before demanding she wear a blindfold and sexually assaulting her with a prosthetic penis.

The woman only discovered the ‘evil truth’ a year later when she ripped off her mask to find the defendant wearing a strap-on sex toy.

Newland, of Hooton Road in Willaston, near Neston, was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault by a jury at Chester Crown Court today (Tuesday, September 15).

After hearing the verdict she became hysterical, repeatedly shouting: “How can you send me down for something I haven’t done” as she was comforted by her parents and court staff.

Lawyers involved in the trial said it was the ‘strangest they had ever done, by some way’ while Judge Roger Dutton described it as ‘extraordinary’ in his legal directions to the jury.

Former creative writing student Newland devised an intricate back story to the character of Kye and admitted first using the fake profile when she was 13.

She told the victim Kye had serious health problems, including cancer, and was embarrassed about his body due to the effects of treatment.

(Image: Ian Cooper)

Kye and the victim eventually became a couple although Kye would make excuses to avoid a face to face meeting.

He eventually agreed to meet the victim, under strict rules that she must wear a blindfold and a mask.

The court heard when they had sex he was wrapped in bandages and wore a swimsuit under his clothes.

Nigel Power, QC, defending, told the jury the victim’s story was ‘incredible, implausible and impossible’.

But in court the complainant said: “Unfortunately I had my eyes wide shut. I can only put it down to being desperate at the time.

“If I had known it was a woman, with a strap-on (prosthetic penis), having penetrative sex with me, I would never have carried on. It’s not something that I judge anyone for but it is not something I am into.”

Newland admitted using two different mobile phones to communicate with the victim. She claimed this was part of a ‘role play’ and that the victim wanted her to act as a man because she was awkward about her sexuality.

But Mathew Corbett-Jones, prosecuting, described this explanation as a ‘nonsense’.

He read texts from the victim to Newland after the victim discovered the truth.

It said: “You have no explanation, Gayle, other than you are pure evil, worse than my ex. If I had not ripped off the mask I would not have known the evil truth.”

In reply Newland said: “I’m not evil though, otherwise I wouldn’t have felt guilty about what I have done every single day.”

The court heard the pair would lie together in the victim’s bedroom watching TV, despite the fact the victim was blindfolded.

Mr Corbett-Jones said Newland “cruelly and cynically manipulated her and isolated her over months and months”.

The court heard Newland even devised fake profiles for Kye’s brother and told the victim Kye had gone into intensive care on one occasion.

The victim told the jury: “I was so desperate to be loved, I was happy just lying there listening to the heartbeat of the man I was in love with.”

The woman told the court she eventually became suspicious and realised on June 30, 2013, that she was having sex with Gayle Newland.

She told police officers in interview: “Something just didn’t feel right, so I sat up on the bed. Something in my mind said pull it (the blindfold) off, pull it off.

“I pulled it off and Gayle was standing their with a strap-on prosthetic penis. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Later that day Newland attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge into a canal.

Newland always accepted the pair had a sexual relationship, but claimed her accuser knew ‘from the word go’ that Kye Fortune was make-believe.

In her police interview, the victim said: “It may look ridiculous, I had no idea, I was desperate for love. I wasn’t closing my eyes to what was happening, I wouldn’t have gone along with it.”

Newland has been bailed with the conditions not to communicate using a false identity and not to contact the victim.

Sentencing was adjourned until November, on a date to be fixed, while psychiatric and pre sentence reports are prepared.

Judge Dutton said: “The defendant has so many serious issues, we need to get to the bottom of some of them at least.”