Pair jailed for paedo-smear blackmail on innocent man
TWO blackmailers who threatened to brand an innocent man a paedophile unless he paid £16,000 have been jailed.
Joseph James, 41, and Martin Hughes, 32, bombarded their victim with texts and calls last December. The court heard he was referred to as a “dead man walking” and the tyres of his parents’ motorhome were slashed.
One text read: “We’ve got loads more terrorism for you. It’s getting posted up everywhere that you’re a nonce. If the £16k isn’t there by 6pm, every house on your close will get a letter saying you’re a paedo.” At Chester crown court, James and Hughes, from Liverpool, admitted conspiracy to blackmail. James got 18 months and Hughes got one year and nine months. Sentencing, Judge Roger Dutton said: “This was a serious and vile offence.”