Wick woman admits extortion by threatening to reveal affairs
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A Wick woman has admitted using sex to extort money from one man and attempting to extort cash from another man.
Kathleen Newlands previously denied two charges but changed her pleas to guilty at Wick Sheriff Court on Thursday. She will be sentenced in April.
The 34-year-old put Mr X in a state of fear and alarm in a phone call she made to him, in which she attempted to extort £5000 – an amended amount from the original charge – from him by threatening to tell his wife and family about their affair if he didn't pay up.
The second charge states that Newlands, of Glamis Road, Wick, put Mr Y in a state of fear and alarm when she demanded £500 from him in a phone call informing him that she had photos of their affair and would tell his wife and family about it, if he didn't pay her that amount, and extorted that sum from him by threats.
The second charge also states that Newlands demanded that a deal be struck whereby Mr Y would make further payments to her to prevent her from posting "suggestive" comments about their affair on Facebook.
The offences are said to have taken place between October 1, 2020 and December 13, 2021.
Sheriff Neil Wilson called for a background report which he will consider on April 3 when he will hear the circumstances of the offences before passing sentence.
Newlands was not in court this week, but will require to be present for sentencing.
