A gambling addict faked his daughter’s death to extract thousands of pounds from his lover and then made a false sex claim in a blackmail bid for more money.
Jobless Steven Dudley, 47, began a relationship with the man he met on a gay internet dating site and conned around £3,000 out of him for the supposed funeral expenses.
He then demanded a similar sum, claiming because the victim had already transferred money into his account it was evidence he had tried to buy his silence after raping him.
Dudley, of Park Parade, Harlesden, north-west London pleaded guilty to blackmail, namely making an unwarranted demand with menaces for £3,000 on October 5, 2016.
He also pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, namely that between September 5 and October 11, 2016 he dishonestly, with intent to gain, represented he needed to pay for his daughter’s funeral.
Prosecutor Mr. Bill McGivern told Inner London Crown Court: “This defendant asked for some money, saying his daughter had died and he could not afford the funeral expenses.
“The victim was moved by that and was happy to give money and did that over several payments into this defendant’s Nationwide account.”
On October 5 Dudley texted the victim, saying: “Okay. Let me say something. You have given me money to buy me.
“I will go to the police to say that you raped me and I still have the bruises. I think £3,000 should cover it.”
Mr. McGivern added: “He was using the generosity of the complainant and the number of payments he had received over a period of time to support the allegation.
“It is an ugly blackmail that has taken place. Invidious.”
Dudley was reported to the police by his ex. “He admitted lying about his daughter’s death and said he had been in a low place and apologised.
“He said he demanded cash because he had gambling debts and could not explain why he behaved in the way he had done.”
The victim says Dudley: “Took every opportunity to take money from me,” and has vowed to be “very wary” of trusting people in the future.
He says he was: “Stunned and horrified,” by the blackmail bid and: “Sickened by the whole affair.”
Sentencing Dudley to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, the Recorder of Southwark Judge Usha Karu told him today: “What you have done is mean and nasty. There is no getting away from that.
“You sent a very nasty text to the complainant saying he had given money to you and had raped you and you would go to the police and say you were physically injured.
“You said he should give you three thousand pounds to keep you quiet and you had the truth of the other payments into your account, but your daughter had not died, there was no funeral.
“I’m sure the text caused him deep upset and would have been very traumatic and very difficult to come to terms with.
‘You thought that because of the embarrassment of the relationship if it became public and the circumstances in which you had met that he would not go to the police.
“There was some planning in how you would extract money from someone who had been quite generous to you.
“The complainant says he has been badly effected by this and will be more careful with relationships he forms in the future.”
Dudley must also attend 60 days rehab; obey a six-month electronically tagged night time curfew between 10pm and 6am and was made subject to a two-year prohibited activity requirement, which bans him from all gambling.
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