Hucknall woman blackmailed man with threats of false rape allegations

Terri Walters extorted a total of £413 before her victim contacted police on November 21, 2021, prosecutor Raglan Ashton told Nottingham Crown Court.

"He said he felt sick at the prospect of being reported and was intimidated by Walters who said she would turn up at his house with her ex-husband."

Her victim helped her voluntarily to begin with before Walters, aged 33, decided to threaten him with texts saying things like: "You need to put 50 into my husband’s account by 8. Ring feds."

She initially demanded £20 and said she hadn’t eaten all week before making further demands for cash to buy food.

The court heard she has old convictions for theft and obtaining property by deception dating back to 2003.

She was due to be sentenced on August 17 but fled the court and a warrant was issued. She was arrested yesterday.

Miles Gosnell, mitigating, said Walters received a community order for two years, nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement and 40 rehabilitation activity days, after she pleaded guilty to cruelty to a person under the age of 16.

Her newborn son Hunter White was just 18 days old when he died in July 2020.

“She pleaded guilty on the limited basis that she shouldn't have handed over her child to her partner who was a cannabis user,” he said. “That is something she has to live with every day.”

"Blackmail is a wicked crime," he said. "It is also a desperate crime by someone who struggles to get by. She carries on taking drugs.

"She is a pathetic soul who needs help. There is no punishment this court could deliver that comes close to the admonishments she gives herself daily.”

On Wednesday, Judge Nirmal Shant KC told her: “”What you chose was the most wicked of things to say.

"You have also had the misfortune to have lost your child. To say that your life is addled by drugs is putting it mildly. You have rejected pretty much every attempt to help you.”

Walters, of Kingsway Gardens, pleaded guilty to blackmail on April 3 this year and breaching court orders. She was sentenced to 11 months in prison.