Blackmailer got £23k from friend with fake threats

A "wicked" woman who blackmailed a friend out of £23,000 by pretending to be a man sending threatening messages has been jailed for three years and four months.

Jenna Thompson, 40, left her victim "penniless" through a nine-month long campaign of threats made under the guise of a violent man, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The woman, who had previously given Thompson money to help her, said her "entire world collapsed" and she felt trapped by the regular demands for money.

Thompson, from Jarrow, admitted blackmail.

Thompson left work through sickness and the woman, who had been a friend for years, gave her money to help pay bills, prosecutor Neil Pallister said.

In November 2023, the woman got a message which she thought was from a violent man demanding she send money to Thompson's account or her house would be attacked, the court heard.

Over the following nine months, the woman made transfers of between £50 and £1,000 several times a week after getting threats, including with pictures of crossbows and grenades, the court heard.

When the woman blocked the sender, who she thought was a man, another number contacted her claiming to be an even more violent associate and demanding more money or a car would be driven into her home, Pallister said.

The court heard it was Thompson pretending to be both men and making threats.

In total, the victim made 87 transfers totalling £23,466, the prosecutor as well as also giving Thompson thousands more pounds to support her, the prosecutor said.

By the end she was left with 16p in her bank account, the court heard.

The first man Thompson posed as was also arrested and interviewed before police realised he was not the one behind the threatening messages, Pallister said.

When Thompson was arrested, she told police the victim "bragged" about having money and could afford to lose it, the court heard.

In a statement read to the court, the woman said she had believed the threats and felt the only way to stay safe was to send money.

She said she had been "living on nothing for months" and her life had been drastically affected.

The woman said her "entire world collapsed" and Thompson had "weaponised" the pair's friendship and the intimate details about her life.

She said she had felt "trapped and controlled" by the regular threats with every payment "driven by fear".

The woman said she had been too scared to tell anyone and felt "unbearable" shame, guilt and fear.

Recorder Emma Smith said the woman had voluntarily given Thompson money to help her, but "despite [the victim's] kindness and generosity" Thompson embarked on a "wicked" course.

She said Thompson used a burner phone to contact the woman and left her "penniless".

"This was the gross abuse of a friendship with devastating consequences," the judge said.

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