Wick woman who attempted to extort cash from men is spared jail
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A Wick woman who used sex to extort money from one man and attempted to extort cash from another man has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.
Kathleen Newlands (34) was instead ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and will be under supervision.
Sheriff Neil Wilson said he had been persuaded, "only just", not to jail her and warned that anything short of full compliance with the order would be almost certain to result in a period of custody.
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Newlands 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 from him by threatening to tell his wife and family about their affair if he didn't pay up.
Wick Sheriff Court heard that Newland also put “Mr Y” in a state of fear and alarm in a phone call informing him she had photos of their affair and would tell his wife and family about if he didn't pay her £500.
Newlands also 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 two offences were said to have occurred between October 1, 2020 and December 13, 2021.
Solicitor Sylvia Maclennan said that Newlands was "very ashamed and embarrassed" by her actions. She was receiving help from support agencies.
Miss Maclennan appealed to Sheriff Wilson not to impose a custodial sentence but to give the accused a chance to work with the agencies and enable her to get back on "a straight road".
Newlands was living in Glamis Road at the time of the offence but had recently obtained a tenancy in Thurso, although she had not yet moved in.
Sheriff Wilson, who saw a background report, told Newlands: "This is not a situation you find yourself in and not an unfortunate series of events. It is a course of conduct you chose to embark on to get money from your victims.
“I would be perfectly entitled to send you to prison today for a year for what is a very serious matter indeed, but I am going to give you a chance."
