Woman pretending to be man for ‘sexual relationship’ has sentencing delayed again

Blade Silvano was convicted of two counts of sexual assault after a court heard she had sex with her victim, who thought she was a man, by using an 'unknown object'

A woman who duped another female into having a “two-year sexual relationship” by pretending to be a man, has seen her sentencing delayed for a fifth time.

Blade Silvano tricked the unnamed victim into having sexual intercourse on at least two occasions by using an 'unknown object' that the victim thought was "her penis". The court heard the pair messaged and 'sexted' every day for nearly two years, and had even started planning their wedding.

Judge Philip Grey slammed the prison system as a "shambles" and lambasted private contractors Serco, used to bring prisoners to court after it failed to provide the correct transport, with the defendant in a wheelchair. He said he was "almost speechless" on learning the sentencing for sexual assault would have to be pushed back again.

He told the court today: "The person who has been most disadvantaged today is the complainant. She has been badly let down by the system. Quite frankly I am almost speechless. Miss Silvano should be here, and I am afraid to say it is the repeated experience of this court and crown courts up and down the country that the system for transporting prisoners to court from prison is a complete shambles.

"Miss Silvano has been in a wheelchair for weeks and the transport company used to bring prisoners to court has not provided the right transport. If the public knew of the amount of time and money thrown away while we wait for someone to be produced late, again and again, they would be outraged. I will make contact with HMP Peterborough behind the scenes in terms of expressing the importance of Miss Silvano being brought to court with the appropriate transport."

The sentencing of Silvano is now due to take place on Thursday next week. A Serco spokesman told the MailOnline: "Our team has been working very hard to deliver prisoners between prisons and the Courts in a challenging post-Covid environment. Around 99.7% of the people we are delivering arrive in time to ensure that there is no delay to Court proceedings and we are sorry that on this occasion we were unable to deliver the prisoner to the Court at the required time."

During her trial the court heard Silvano, 40, hid her true gender by always wearing a t-shirt and boxers, turning the light off and never allowing the victim to see or touch "her genitalia". The jury heard Silvano and her victim only met physically on a few occasions as Silvano had 'lied' about having cancer and being in the British Army.

A jury unanimously found her guilty of two charges of sexual assault by penetration after a trial at Cambridge Crown Court in May.

During the trial, prosecutors said the pair met online in late 2016 when Silvano had posted her status on Plenty of Fish as a "man looking for a woman" so matched with the victim who was searching the opposite. They first met in person in December of that year and kissed before going on to have 'intercourse'.

Giving evidence, the victim, who referred to Silvano as a "he" throughout her evidence, said she thought she was having sex with a man called Blade Mendez - and had never consented to have sex with a female. She told the court: "When we had sex, Blade would usually blindfold me and I was never allowed to look at the penetration occurring. He would never allow me to go near his genital region and I never saw his penis."

She said she was "able to move my hands freely down the side and his back but added: "I was never able to put my hands underneath his clothes or down his boxers. He would rebuff me every time I tried to make an advance; he would nudge me away. He was using sex toys on me; it was not allowed the other way around. He told me he was a man and it was on that basis I agreed to have sex with him."

She added: "He didn't tell me he was female but he penetrated me with something - and I haven't consented to it."

Silvano, of Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, had denied ever meeting the victim and said they had an 'online relationship' only that was all about 'roleplay' and 'fantasy.' She said the thousands of messages between them were all part of the fantasy, as was the planned wedding, which had seen a registrar booked and the defendant going wedding dress shopping with her sister.

Giving evidence, Silvano claimed she was 'open' about her gender from the beginning and, although medically a 'woman' on her birth certificate, didn't define herself this way. She told the jury she was 'pansexual' and would often use the title 'Doctor' which she claimed she was entitled to do after completing an online PhD in ancient Greek history.

Giving her evidence, she accepted the couple had strong feelings for each other but added: "She knew I was female, again it was the roleplay. We were both having problems at home and it was like our escapism." The trial also heard details of thousands of messages sent between the couple, including ones referring to ones referring to her as a "big strong handsome guy."

She had told police in an interview: "This was our roleplay - she wanted that. It doesn't mean it actually happened. She can tell I'm not male. Her referring to me as a man is roleplay. She knew from the start."