A JURY in the trial of a woman accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage girl has been warned not to discuss the details of the case outside court.

Stephanie Shorney, 34, denies seven counts of sexual offences involving an underage girl in West Dorset between January 28, 2017 and January 27, 2019.

The girl, who was aged between 14 and 15 during this time, cannot be named for legal reasons.

Yesterday, Recorder Michael Bowes was made aware of a note from a juror who claimed small groups of the jury had discussed the case outside of the jury room.

Recorder Bowes was satisfied that the court case should proceed, but reminded the jury to not form an opinion until all evidence was heard.

He told them: “I want you to remind you of fairness. I want you to focus on the evidence that is presented to the court.

“You must not reach a concluded view until you have heard all of the view of prosecution, the defence and heard their closing statements.

“You must only discuss the case when you are in your room and not within a group smaller than the jury size.

“In other words, there must not be separate discussion groups.”

Shorney continued to be questioned about her relationship with the complainant, in which she reiterated how they only became sexually active when the girl turned 16.

Shorney also addressed sections of a text message she sent to the teenager in a bid to reconcile in late 2019. She claimed the message referenced multiple incidents which occurred in either 2017 and 2019, with anything sexual occurring in 2019.

Prosecutor Simon Foster asked what she meant when she referred to ‘the tension was incredible’ while the alleged victim was painting Shorney’s nails.

Denying it referred to sexual tension, she replied: “I’m a qualified nail technician and she was someone who is unqualified doing my nails. I was nervous as someone else was doing it for me.”

Aware Shorney admitted to kissing the complainant before she turned 16, Mr Foster pressed her further to answer what she meant when she sent ‘We kissed even through he (Shorney’s husband) could have caught us’.

She replied: ‘It was just a peck on the cheek’ and strongly denied any suggestions from Mr Foster it had a sexual context.

Referring to the alleged victim’s struggles with home life and bullying, Mr Foster declared she ‘took advantage of a vulnerable girl’ in which Shorney sharply replied: “I did not.”

The trial continues.