Cheshire woman accused of posing as a man to assault teenager

Georgia Bilham, 21, from Alpraham, Cheshire, is charged with 17 offences after allegedly deceiving a 19-year-old woman

A woman accused of posing as a man and sexually assaulting a 19-year-old told her it was a "stupid mistake", a court has heard.

Georgia Bilham, 21, of Cheshire, denies 17 sexual offences after allegedly deceiving the young woman.

A trial heard Ms Bilham posed online as George Parry, a man from Birmingham.

She wore a hood while meeting her short-sighted victim after claiming to be "paranoid" due to involvement with Albanian gang members, jurors heard.

In a message read out at Chester Crown Court, she had told her victim she had "never meant for it to get this far", adding she had hated herself for what she had done.

"I'm so sorry for all of it," the message had read, "It was never me and it shouldn't have happened."

"It was a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake that shouldn't have happened."

'Felt sick'

Giving evidence, the woman's mother told the court her daughter had told her she was seeing someone called George.

She said her daughter had seemed "really happy" and had a "spark in her eye" but had found it strange 'George' had kept his hood up whenever they met.

The woman confronted Ms Bilham in August 2021 after discovering her identity following a car crash.

The jury heard she was a passenger in Ms Bilham's car when the accused crashed it into a hedge in the early hours of 11 May that year. She then overheard the accused give her details to police.

She said she had "felt sick" when she had discovered 'George' was female.

However, the court was told Ms Bilham told her she had been using a fake licence, so the woman had continued to see her.

She also sent a screenshot of messages with someone she said was part of an Albanian gang and claimed she had been collected from the scene by one of them, although she was actually picked up by her father.

Ms Bilham, of Bunbury Road, Alpraham, denies nine sexual assaults and eight counts of assault by penetration.

The trial continues.