Man who blackmailed vulnerable woman with naked photos for €9,000 is jailed – The Irish Times

A man who blackmailed a vulnerable woman for £8,000 (€9,100) during a protracted campaign has been handed a four-year sentence.

Jailing Jordan McKeever at Antrim Crown Court, Judge Peter Irvine KC told the 27-year-old that blackmail is always a serious offence and, given that “it preys on the soul” of a victim, a deterrent sentence was warranted.

Imposing a four-year sentence, he ordered McKeever to serve half of it in prison and half under supervised licence conditions.

At an earlier hearing McKeever, from Glenview Drive in Limavady, Co Derry, admitted that between January 2nd, 2023, and April 10th, 2024, “with a view to make a gain for himself”, he made unwarranted demands for money “with menaces”, from the victim.

Opening the facts of the case on Thursday, prosecuting counsel Mark Farrell told the court how a relative of the victim contacted police in April last year to report she was being blackmailed.

Mr Farrell explained how the victim herself, “is considered to be a vulnerable lady”, hence the third-party report.

The victim told detectives that in January 2023, she received a friend request on social media from a man she had never met and did not know.

“They started talking to each other for about a month and the defendant asked the injured party for photos of her naked,” the barrister said.

The victim agreed and sent an image of her bare chest, albeit with her face not visible but following that, McKeever began to demand that she send him money with the threat that he would send her images to friends and work colleagues.

To begin with, “there were quite small sums of money” but as time went on, McKeever demanded larger and larger sums.

The offending and threats continued on a weekly basis for more than a year and overall, the victim paid out £8,266 (€9,424) to McKeever, “a fairly considerable sum of money for her”.

Once the police had been alerted, McKeever was “easily identified” through social media and bank account details, and although he initially gave “no comment” responses, during later questioning McKeever “made full admissions”.

McKeever told police he asked her for money because he needed to fund his gambling habit but he maintained that although he had threatened to share her intimate images, “he would not have done so”.

Mr Farrell suggested that although the defendant’s guilty plea and previously clear record were mitigating features, the fact the blackmail went on for so long, was well planned and was committed against a vulnerable victim, were all aggravating features.

Defence counsel Alan Stewart conceded the blackmail plot had been “a nasty offence, it was deliberate, it was exploitative and, as it transpires, the victim is a vulnerable individual”.

The barrister revealed that McKeever’s partner “was completely unaware of the offending, completely unaware of his gambling problem and this has put a considerable strain on the relationship”.

McKeever issued a public apology to the victim and also had £1,000 in court for the victim, which could be transferred to her immediately.

Jailing McKeever, the judge said that “clearly, your culpability is high and the harm is also high”.

In addition to the jail sentence, the judge also imposed a four-year restraining order.