Blackmail gang jailed for extorting £200,000 from farmer

A blackmail gang has been jailed for threatening to kill a wealthy farmer and forcing him out of almost £200,000.

A court heard the North Yorkshire farmer lived in "abject fear" over threats he would be shot in the head.

He delivered the money over the course of 17 days, fearing his and his family's lives were in danger.

The farmer, who cannot be named, borrowed money from friends and family and even sold his tractor to be able to meet the gang's continuing demands.

Police discovered CCTV footage of the gang leader's wife laden with designer goods after a trip to Harrods using some of the proceeds.

Dennis McGinley, 40, from Somerset, was jailed for seven years and four months after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit blackmail and a transferring criminal property offence.

He was on licence having been jailed in 2009 for eight years for another blackmail offence in which a businessman had almost £800,000 extorted.

His wife Bianca McGinley previously received a six-month suspended sentence after she admitted possession of criminal property.

His brother, Bernard, 35 was jailed for four-and-a-half years, while co-accused horse dealer Christy Stokes, 44 from Hampshire, admitted conspiracy to blackmail and was jailed for three years and nine months.