Blackmail ?

[Headlight10]

Hi all.. Am looking some advise as to whether I am being blackmailed ( in the eyes of the law ) Which section of the forum should i post to .

Thanks .

[Amethyst]

Probably here for the moment and I can move your post to a relevant place once we know a little more where this may have arisen from ( Employment, General Legal, Defamation etc )

[Headlight10]

Ok Thanks .

[Amethyst]

Police.

And I'm afraid that is the only answer.

If you sent the messages then you'll need to do some thinking.

If you didn't send the messages there isn't an issue.

If you give in to Blackmail now it will not end with 'helping overcome some personal issues' ( whatever that means and guessing it would be something you wouldn't normally do and has the potential to get you into trouble professionally or personally ).

des8

( Sorry, to answer your question, yes it is blackmail )

Theft Act 1968

21 Blackmail.

(1)

A person is guilty of blackmail if, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another, he makes any unwarranted demand with menaces; and for this purpose a demand with menaces is unwarranted unless the person making it does so in the belief—

(a)

that he has reasonable grounds for making the demand; and

(b)

that the use of the menaces is a proper means of reinforcing the demand.

(2)

The nature of the act or omission demanded is immaterial, and it is also immaterial whether the menaces relate to action to be taken by the person making the demand.

(3)

A person guilty of blackmail shall on conviction on indictment be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.

[des8]

The difficulty is that this does not appear to be blackmail.
Blackmail by definition must include loss/gain of money/property (Section 34 of Theft Act 1968)

What you are looking at is extortion involving the render of services, (but not sure if that is a statutory offence) but never the less as Amethyst says
your proper course of action is to report him to the police, as this is certainly an invasion of your privacy and a breach of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997
If you give in to him you don't know where it will end, and you might eventually receive demands for cash (proper blackmail).

[Amethyst]

I suppose it depends what the 'help with a personal issue' actually involves. Could be fraud of some kind as well.

Doesn't 'extortion' involve money too though... http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60/section/34

I agree on the harassment issue.
Thanks Des, knew you'd have the right info

[des8]

Semantics ....Extortion or Blackmail?

Theft Act 1968 actually defines Blackmail (Sec 21) but nowhere is there a reference to extortion.

If the "personal issues" should result in a gain of money or property for the former associate, then blackmail would be involved

[Headlight10]

Thank you both for the replies , they are very helpful. At least now I know what direction to go with this.

[2222]

Just being practical for a moment, would it be worth telling your partner about this, anyway? Otherwise, it's always hanging over you, as the copies cannot be completely erased.

[JohnEstacado]

I received a couple of messages to the mail where the sender claimed that he had my photos of an intimate nature. This simply could not be so I ignore such messages where I am being tried to blackmail or somehow deceive.