STORIES

Page 20 ISSUE 123 Friday 25th SEPTEMBER, 2015
WOMAN WHO
POSED AS MAN
A
woman who
posed as a man to
dupe her friend
into sleeping with her has
been found guilty of sexual
assault.
Gayle Newland, 25, demanded
the other woman
wear a blindfold when they
met, and used a prosthetic
penis while carrying out
the assaults.
Newland, of Willaston,
Cheshire, had told a court
the pair were engaging in
role play and fantasy.
But a Chester Crown
Court jury found her guilty
of three sexual assault
charges.
She was cleared of two
other counts of the same
charge.
Newland had told jurors
the other woman had
known she was female,
and both of them had been
struggling with their sexuality.
She had denied using a
blindfold, and said she did
not strap bandages to her
chest and wear a woollen
hat and swimsuit, as the
victim had alleged.
But during the four-day
trial she did admit to creating
a fake Facebook profile
in the name Kye Fortune.
- guilty of sexual assault
GAYLE NEWLAND claimed she and her former
girlfriend were engaging in role play and fantasy
The victim told the jury
how she met “Kye” online
in 2011, and the pair struck
up a friendship.
Kye initially told her he
was not well enough to see
her due to being treated for
car accident injuries and a
brain tumour.
But the pair spoke frequently
on the phone, the
court heard, and eventually
arranged to meet for sex at
a hotel on the condition the
woman wore a blindfold
- because Kye was embarrassed
by his scars.
They went on to spend
more than 100 hours in
each other’s company in
hotels and the victim’s flat,
with the assaults taking
place between February
and June 2013.
The deception was finally
uncovered during
their final sexual encounter,
when the victim removed
the blindfold and saw Newland
instead of Kye.
‘Elaborate deception’
She insisted she had always
believed Kye had
been a man, telling the
court: “In hindsight I wish
I had ripped that mask off
sooner.”
Adjourning the case for
sentencing, Judge Roger
Dutton said Newland had
“serious issues surrounding
her personality”.
He warned her she may
face “serious consequences”
when she is sentenced
in November.
In response, Newland
shouted: “How can you
send me down for something
I have not done?”
She broke down in tears
and repeatedly said “I don’t
understand, I don’t understand”,
after the verdict
was returned.
The judge thanked jurors
for their “careful consideration”
of the case and said
it would present a “difficult
sentencing exercise”.
Det Insp Clare Coleman,
of Cheshire Constabulary,
said it was “important to
remember there is a victim
at the heart of [the case]”.
“This was a highly
elaborate deception where
Newland abused the trust
that the victim had in her,”
she said.
“She has been extremely
upset by what has happened
and there is no doubt
there will be a lasting psychological
impact on her.”
Newland was released on
bail prior to sentencing.
ROYAL BATTLE AT...
GAY CARIBBEAN
PAGEANT
IN NEW YORK
The Gay Caribbean
USA Pageant has
been charming the
hearts of Caribbean Americans
for the past seven
years. In recognition of the
pageant reaching its seventh
anniversary, the organizers
are bringing the former
queens back to battle
among themselves for the
2015 crown. This year’s
event is dubbed The Royal
Battle.
The female impersonators
who appear as contestants
are judged in the
following categories: swim
wear, talent, evening wear
and interview. Over its existence,
the pageant has become
a Brooklyn staple that
continues to grow in the
Caribbean-American Diaspora.
Contestants in the Royal
Battle hail from Barbados,
Jamaica, Guyana, Saint Lucia,
Dominican Republic,
Grenada, USVI and Trinidad
and Tobago.
Despite the attention
that the pageant generates,
the organizers remain
focused on the aim of the
event, which is to bridge
the gap of understanding
between the heterosexual
and gay communities.
The 2015 Gay Caribbean
USA Pageant will be
held on Saturday, September
26 from 8 pm at Restoration
Plaza, Brooklyn,
NY.
Trinis always changing
iPhone charger…
HERE’S A SIMPLE
TRICK TO FIX IT IF
IT’S HAVING
TROUBLE
CHARGING
Story by STEVEN TWEEDIE
We’ve all been there. You plug your charger
into your iPhone, but it doesn’t seem
to be recognizing the charger — or if it
does, moving your phone even slightly seems to
cause it to disconnect and stop charging.
I first ran into this problem a couple of years ago
with my iPhone 5. I noticed that my iPhone just
wouldn’t recognize my charger, and it got so bad that
I would wrap my charging cable around my iPhone in
an attempt to keep it firmly in place.
At first I thought the problem was a bad charging
cable, but after trying one of my roommate’s cables
to no avail, I began to suspect the issue was with
the phone itself. Frustrated, I was about to schedule
a Genius Bar appointment at an Apple Store when
my friend John told me he knew what the issue was:
pocket lint.
“You always keep your iPhone in your pocket,
right?” said John, telling me he had experienced the
same issue before. It was true. I did keep my iPhone
in my pocket when I wasn’t using it, and while it
made sense that some pocket lint might build up in
my iPhone’s charging port, I was skeptical it could
actually prevent it from charging.
But after grabbing a paper clip and inserting it into
my iPhone’s charging port and gently digging around,
I was surprised to see a large amount of pocket lint
fall out — much more than I had expected. After all
was said and done, a sizeable amount of lint was left
on my desk.
I tried my charging cable yet again — and voilà —
my iPhone immediately recognized it and started to
charge. I could even wiggle the charging cable around
and the connection stayed solid. It was fixed.
Two years later, my colleague Nathan told me he
had the same problem, so we tried the same trick and
found that pocket lint was again the culprit.
So the next time you notice your iPhone isn’t charging
properly, try to find a slim object (you should use a
toothpick or non-metal object just to be safe, though)
that you can use to (gently) dig out any built-up pocket
lint in your charging port.
Over time, that pocket lint gets packed into the corners
and the sides of the charging port, causing the
connection between charging port and cable to be
blocked.