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

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."

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

"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.

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.