The Bed Trick: Sex and Deception on Trial

by Izabella Scott

She said she wore a blindfold at all times. She said she didn't know who she was really having sex with.


Two former best friends face each other in court at a sex offence trial. Miss X, making the accusation, claims she was tricked into queer sex, many times, by a best friend pretending to be her boyfriend. But that friend, Gayle Newland, tells a different story. They were secret lesbians, she says, lovers in the closet. The boyfriend was imaginary, and part of a role play that had been going on for years.


This astonishing case reached UK courtrooms twice in 2015 and 2017, capturing national attention. At both trials, Newland was convicted of a rare and controversial crime known as 'rape by deception'. In literature, the plot has been named 'the bed trick'. Shakespeare made it famous in plays with lovers switching places in the dark, but in real life, a consummated bed trick is rare.


As The Bed Trick unfolds the riveting story of Newland's trials - a case where reality was stranger than fiction - it also reveals the malleability of courtroom narratives, and the many myths, archetypes and stories embedded in the law.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime

316 pages, Paperback Edition

Published February 5, 2026

Reviews

[Philippa Malicka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly captivating, I couldn't put it down. The true story of this trial is beyond comprehension, but through a blend of fictional elements and non-fictional exploration Scott navigates the bewildering court-case beautifully, connecting it seamlessly to its legal and sexual framework. Unlike any book I've read in years.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gobsmackingly good book. It brings together true crime, legal scholarship, queer theory, questions of free will and LGBTQ progress, the world's strange perception of creative-writing degrees, and much more in a wonderfully readable, page-turning way. The author displays astonishing control of the material. Excellent!

[Meg Mash · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 50%. I was really excited to read this as I found the case fascinating, but felt the book was quite repetitive and chewing over the same facts over and over. It also convinced me of Gayle Newland’s guilt very early on which I feel affected the way I interpreted the rest of the book.

[Fern Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited for this especially the angle the author approached it from but about halfway through I felt it was going over the same points rather than building momentum. It’s still very interesting in places.

[Clementine Lussiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely inhaled this was so gripping

[Talia]

Repetitive with no momentum. Unfortunately I therefore do not recommend this book. DNF @ Chapter 4.

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

First non-fiction in a while and couldn’t put it down. Truly captivating analysis with enough historical and literary context without it being preachy. My main point being this book is very accessible to the average reader, you do not need to be an expert, and I think that’s a huge plus.