A GIRL burst into tears as she recalled details of her intimate relationship with a woman accused of multiple sex offences.

Stephanie Shorney, 34, is accused of multiple sexual offences involving an underage girl in Dorset between January 28, 2017 and January 27, 2019.

The girl, who was aged between 14 and 16 during this period, cannot be named for legal reasons.

Shorney, of Hill View, Maiden Newton, denies seven counts of sexual offences in a trial at Winchester Crown Court.

The second day of the trial saw the girl admit she had become close to Shorney after she was going through a ‘difficult time’ in 2017, namely being bullied at school and struggling at home.

The girl told prosecutor Simon Foster how Shorney helped with her issues because she ‘confided in her and talked to her’.

Defending Shorney, David Freeland, suggested the teenager had lied about certain incidents to police and her friends.

Referencing a text message sent to her two friends, the girl wrote how Shorney was ‘like a motherly figure but she doesn’t see that as she (Shorney) gets too attached’ and denied that she was in a bed with Shorney.

Mr Freeland accused the girl of lying to her friends about what happened in September 2017. After taking a pause, she said, “yes”.

She appeared to become upset and cry and requested a break.

The court heard how the girl had continued to see Shorney in secret after Shorney’s husband was made aware of her sleeping over and her parents told her to stop meeting her in September 2017.

The girl also told the court how Shorney had dictated a text message to be sent to her husband which spoke of how she ‘had a lot of time to think’, that she ‘wanted to apologise about what happened last summer’ and how she enjoyed being with his family.

When asked if her husband replied to the text message, she said “no”.

The trial continues.