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A woman who tricked her female friend into having sex by pretending to be a man for two years has been jailed for 8 years.

Gayle Newland, 25, disguised her appearance and voice as she persuaded the other woman to put on a blindfold when they met up.

The pair had sex about 10 times until the complainant ripped off her mask and in disbelief saw Newland wearing a prosthetic penis.

Newland was found guilty on three charges of sexual assault following a trial.

She wept uncontrollably as she was jailed for eight years by Judge Roger Dutton at Chester Crown Court today.

You can follow updates from the sentencing via our live blog

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Newland was so distraught she was unable to stand and had to be physically carried down to the cells where he shouts and cries could still be heard in the courtroom.

Her family were left visibly stunned by the lengthy sentence, with one heard to say "That did not f***ing just happen" .

Before she was sent down, they shouted "we are here from you" from the public gallery.

(Image: Cheshire Police)

Judge Roger Dutton described Newland as ‘scheming’, ‘deceitful’ and ‘highly manipulative’.

He said the crime was so unusual he could depart from normal sentencing guidelines.

He told Newland: "You were so convincing in your cruel deception of [the victim] she thought she had finally found a man she could love and be with."

Newland acted for her own “sexual gratification” and ignored the “devastating” impact on the victim, he added.

(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

Newland later apologised to the victim, the court heard.

Judge Dutton said: "You apologised because the game was up, and your cruel deception had been discovered.”

"Your behaviour amounted to a callous breach of the trust your friend had in you."

During the trial, Newland claimed her accuser, also aged 25, always knew she was pretending to be a man as they engaged in role play while struggling with their sexuality.

She said no blindfold was used and she did not strap bandages to her chest or wear a woollen hat and swimsuit.

But in September, a jury at Chester Crown Court convicted the marketing manager from Willaston, Cheshire, of three counts of sexual assault at the complainant's flat in Chester.

(Image: PA)

Newland created a bogus Facebook profile in the name of Kye Fortune and was then said to have taken on the persona of Kye as she mimicked a man to speak many times on the phone with the victim after their first contact in 2011.

When they finally decided to meet up in February 2013, the complainant told the jury that Kye had asked her to wear a blindfold because he was insecure about his looks following supposed life-saving brain surgery.

They were said to have spent more than 100 hours together and the encounters would include the complainant wearing a blindfold when they watched television together and on one occasion even when sunbathing.

The prosecution said it was an "unusual case" set against an "extraordinary background" in which the defendant targeted the "naive and vulnerable" complainant - who said she was not gay - in an elaborate deception.

But Newland's legal team argued the complainant's account was simply "impossible to believe" and that a woman of her sexual experience could not have been tricked into thinking she had had sex with a man.

Newland, of Hooton Road, created the character of Fortune when she was 13 because she found it difficult to speak to girls in real life.

(Image: VIEWFINDER)

By the age of 15 or 16, she went on to develop a Facebook profile of "half-Filipino, half-Latino" Fortune by downloading photographs from an American man's Myspace page.

Kye and Newland shared the same birth date, both liked RnB music and "chick flicks" and had a dog named Gypsy, the court heard.

The jury heard another woman said she had been duped by Newland into believing she was communicating with a man.

She said she added the "good-looking" Kye as a Facebook friend and an online and phone relationship developed.

The woman suggested to him that they meet up but said he always came up with an excuse before she discovered by chance that Kye was Newland in reality.

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Clare Coleman from Cheshire police said: " The sentence handed down today reflects the seriousness of this crime.

"This has been a highly unusual and complex investigation.

"There has been a lot of interest in this case due to the extraordinary circumstances, but it is important to remember that there is a victim at the heart of all of this.

"This was a highly elaborate deception where Newland abused the trust that the victim had in her.

"She has been extremely upset by what has happened and there is no doubt that there will be a lasting psychological impact on her.

"I would like to thank the victim for her bravery and co-operation throughout the investigation.

“This case highlights that Cheshire Constabulary takes all allegations of sexual assault seriously."