Doncaster trans woman’s bogus rape claim in £7K blackmail plot

A South Yorkshire trans woman who duped her sister into a "malevolent" blackmail plot tried to extort £7,000 from her landlord with a bogus rape claim.
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Tristyn Bell-Willows, who identified as a gay man at the time, was in a consensual sexual relationship with her victim and lived rent free in his flat before she was asked to leave in May 2017, said prosecutor Andrew Smith.

She demanded £7,000 or said she would tell the police about the "rape" and her sister, Heidi Osborne, threatened to damage his shop and "tell people what had been happening."

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They printed the allegations and stuck them on the shop walls, and Osborne told him she would "take your life apart, brick by brick."

Sheffield Crown Court.Sheffield Crown Court.
Sheffield Crown Court.

"They wanted £7,000 because they knew he was due to receive £17,000 in a pension lump sum," Mr Smith said.

One text from Bell-Willows read: "There is another way out of it - you could pay me and I will walk away and keep quiet."

The court heard she was "irritated and annoyed" because her landlord bought an Audi instead of renovating the “substandard” flat.

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But their victim contacted police on May 8, 2017, and a full investigation found no evidence of the allegations.

In a statement their victim said: "This has been hanging over my head for two years. He had been going around telling people I raped him. He was telling people who came into my shop.

"I feel that he has set me up. He has made a demand of money from me. All I ever did was try and help him. He never paid any rent. I wanted to help him.

"He has taken advantage of my good nature. He has repaid my generosity and kindness by spreading rumours about me and demanding money."

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The court heard Bell-Willows has previous convictions for arson, in 2006, and possession of an offensive weapon, in 2007.

On March 6, Katy Rafter, mitigating, said Osborne believed what her brother told her and "didn't think it was right that (the victim) should get away with it."

She said her client was full of remorse and the delays before she was sentenced were "considerable."

Osborne, 29, of Lace Close, Balby, pleaded guilty to blackmail and was sentenced to two years, suspended for 24 months, with 20 rehabilitation days.

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Bell-Willows, 33, of Church Street, Mexborough, fired her legal team following a fact-finding hearing last December, and represented herself despite the judge's advice.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, said Bell-Willows "endured gender dysphoria” since her teenage years, "an appalling early life which led to baleful consequences" and sought solace in drugs and drink.

In mitigation, he noted her guilty plea and the positive steps she had taken in prison.

But he told the defendant: "Regretably you have shown not a shred of contrition. Many would characterise your conduct as irredeemably wicked.

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"Your sister was duped by you. This wasn't a case of rape or anything akin to it."

He jailed Bell-Willows for three and a half years.

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