The female café boss who tricked woman into having sex by pretending to be a man: How Blade Silvano spun web of lies her entire life including posing as RAF surgeon and cystic …

• Blade Silvano, 41, made a fake dating profile on Plenty of Fish in 2016

By Andrew Levy[1]

Published: 18:21, 21 December 2023 | Updated: 00:31, 22 December 2023

Outlining the case against Blade Silvano in court - an astonishing tale of a woman disguising herself as a man in order to strike up a two-year sexual relationship with an unsuspecting female victim - the prosecution said she had cooked up a 'sophisticated deception'.

There was the carefully constructed dating app profile with photos that made her look like a man, the detailed back-story of serving as an Army officer, claims of injuries or illnesses to explain absences, photos of her 'shaving', even plans for marriage.

And, of course, only having sex in the dark - using a strap-on sex toy or other unknown implements.

But at the heart of Silvano's subterfuge is a much simpler truth - that, like all con artists, she was ruthless and conniving enough to latch on to a trusting soul who took her at face value.

One former colleague - who was also duped into believing Silvano was a man who had served in the armed forces - said today: 'It's hard to explain but I didn't question what he (sic) told me, even when alarm bells were ringing.

'You just think there's no reason why he'd lie to me and accept it. It makes you wonder what else he's done.'

Blade Silvano, 41, has been jailed after duping another female into a two-year relationship

Indeed, Silvano's accuser, who can't be named for legal reasons, suspects there may be other victims who have not contacted the authorities. 'Blade is a dangerous, manipulative person,' she said.

Cambridgeshire Police confirmed there are no ongoing investigations at present but added: 'We welcome other potential victims to come forward.'

Silvano's extraordinary web of lies emerged during a week-long trial at Cambridge Crown Court which ended in a conviction on two counts of sexual assault by penetration.

She was jailed for ten years and six months yesterday but is appealing against the conviction and sentence, MailOnline can reveal.

Investigations by the Mail have also found her duplicitous nature predates the sex offences - more of which later.

Jurors heard how Silvano lured her victim with the Plenty of Fish dating app, where she called herself Blade Mendez and posted 'man looking for a woman' in her status.

Her victim contacted her after falling for 'his quirky haircut' and appreciating how 'his' photo was 'a little bit different to all the other pictures'.

They first got together in December 2016 and kissed, moving on to have sex at a subsequent meeting.

The victim, from Cambridgeshire, told the court: 'When we had sex, Blade would usually blindfold me and I was never allowed to look at the penetration occurring.'

She was allowed to 'move my hands freely down his side and his back but... I was never able to put my hands underneath his clothes or down his boxers'.

The meetings - and intimacy - were rare, however, as there were long periods when Silvano, 41, of Lydham in Shropshire, wasn't available.

This began within days of their first tryst when Silvano, who claimed to be an Army veterinarian, cancelled plans to take the woman to an officer's ball as he had been 'trampled by a cow'.

'He sent me a picture of his leg elevated on a sofa at his house,' she told the jury.

'He said because it was the weekend they [doctors] couldn't do anything further but he'd be going back to hospital to have a small operation to rectify what the cow had done.'

From February 2017 onward, Silvano repeatedly cancelled meetings with a range of excuses.

Silvano, seen posing as a man, has been sentenced to 10 years and six months imprisonment

But the relationship continued online and in 5,000 text messages, some of which were read out in court.

In one exchange, the woman discovered one of her lover's T-shirts at her house and wrote: 'I love wearing your top - the fact you never take it off makes me smile.'

Silvano replied: 'Lol.

I don't do naked.'

In another, the victim complained: 'It's been nearly a year since I've been able to touch and kiss you.'

Plans were made to get married at the end of 2017, despite the long absences, but this was postponed when Silvano claimed to have cancer. His GP told the court there was no such diagnosis in his medical records.

It was only in September 2018 that the woman synced her contacts for a new Facebook account and the defendant appeared 'with a different surname to the one that I'm aware of'.

In an anguished online exchange with Silvano's wife, Jan, she wrote: 'The last two years of my life - by the looks of it most of what I know to be is a lie. Do you know this guy?'

Ms Silvano replied: 'I think you must have been catfished love.

We've been married for ten years.'

Pressed on whether her partner had 'had the op', Ms Silvano replied: 'She is still and has always been a woman.'

Silvano's defence revolved around the claim that the two had never actually met in person - even though the complainant's sister had met him in her home.

The defendant also argued both had been willing participants in an online fantasy they played out together, that his accuser was actually bisexual - which she denied - and that she was seeking 'revenge' after discovering he was already in a long-term relationship.

The woman firmly told the court: 'She denied me the right to consent. Everyone has the right to know who they are having sex with and what they are having sex with.'

At the sentencing yesterday, the woman said in her victim impact statement: 'There were dreams and aspirations for the future and grand gestures of car giving, house buying, wedding planning and child rearing.

'The person I'd been in love with, and stood by for nearly two years, had lied to me about everything, including the basics of his gender.'

After her conviction, Judge Philip Grey remanded Silvano in prison and criticised her for concocting 'some of the most dishonest evidence I've ever heard in my time on the bench'.

Jailing her yesterday, he said: 'This case is not about any person's sexuality. It is not about gender dysphoria.

It has nothing to do with the current arguments and debates about the issue of gender identity.

'This case is, at its heart, about lies, deceit and procuring sexual experiences by grossly misleading another person.

'It is about a carefully created, cruelly maintained deception that you practised on your wholly innocent victim.'

Mother-of-three Ms Silvano insisted to MailOnline today her partner had been the victim of a 'miscarriage of justice', saying: 'There is a barrister already taking action for an appeal against the sentence and the conviction.'

She added: 'The judge's comments were slanderous. There was a lot of nastiness in there.'

Silvano denied ever meeting the woman and said they had an 'online relationship'

Ms Silvano said she hadn't known about her partner's online friendship until her arrest but they had 'had a conversation' since.

She declined to explain what was discussed but insisted a physical relationship was impossible as she would have noticed the 'eight-hour round trips'.

Research by MailOnline has established that Silvano, who has no biological children of her own, was born Lyndsey Moore in October 1982. She changed her name to Blade Silvano in 2012.

In addition to the Plenty of Fish account in the name Blade Mendez, she appears to have a Facebook page under the name Xander Silvano and another with the pseudonym Shank Silvano, which features an image of a phoenix rising from the flames.

An October 2016 article from The Market Times, which used male pronouns for Silvano who was running a cafe in a former Victorian town hall in Welshpool, Powys, described how 'he' had worked as an orthopaedic surgeon for the RAF, a 'career curtailed by the combination of a road accident in which he lost a foot after a joy rider collided with his motorbike, and a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis'.

A fellow trader said Silvano had also claimed to be an orthopaedic surgeon with the US Air Force.

They said: 'He has betrayed our trust and friendship.

The lies are hurtful and distressing because we treated him as a friend.'

Silvano has also claimed to have gained a national diploma in applied science and a BTEC in animal behaviour at Liverpool University, as well as a doctorate from an online course in ancient history with the University of Warwick.

Neither institution has a record of a student by any of her known pseudonyms and the qualification at Warwick was ridiculed in court when the prosecution pointed out she had stated her dissertation was '200 words long'. PhD dissertations are typically between 70,000 and 100,000 words.

The Royal Military Police also investigated Silvano's claims to have worked in the armed forces and found no records.

Jan also has a colourful background - although there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

She married Silvano in a pagan ceremony in February 2009 and has two 'family-run' businesses, both in Welshpool.

The Owl and Broomstick sells 'pagan and gothic gifts as well as comic and film merchandise'. Its website says Jan is also know as 'Lady Raven' and does tarot readings.

The other business is The Cosmic Owl, a Warhammer Games stockist and film memorabilia vendor.

Her Facebook account says she is married to Shank Silvano.

Other Facebook accounts linked to her are Janice LadyRaven, which says she worked at Bingo Blitz, and Janice Patricia, which indicates she's the owner of The British Pantry.

At present, she is coming to terms as a busy working single mother while Silvano languishes behind bars.

'I just have to get on with it.

I don't have a choice,' she said.

Silvano is presumably hoping the appeals will lead to her freedom and an opportunity, phoenix-like, to resurrect her sordid reputation from the flames of notoriety.

References

1. ^ Andrew Levy (www.dailymail.co.uk)