A Wick woman who had sex with two cheating men and threatened to tell their wives if they didn’t pay her money has been spared jail.
Kathleen Newlands put ‘Mr X’ in a state of fear and alarm by phoning him to threaten to tell his wife and family about their affair if he didn’t give her £5,000 of hush money.
The 34-year-old also attempted to extort £500 of cash from a ‘Mr Y’ when she called him to threaten to reveal photos of their tryst to the man’s wife and family.
Newlands also demanded to strike a deal with ‘Mr Y’ for him to make further payments to prevent her from posting suggestive comments about their affair on Facebook.
The two offences occurred between October 1 2020 and December 13 2021, Wick Sheriff Court was told.
Blackmailing mum Kathleen Newlands ‘very ashamed and embarrassed’ Wick Sheriff Court told
Defence solicitor Sylvia Maclennan said her client was “very ashamed and embarrassed” by her actions and that she was receiving help from support agencies.
Miss Maclennan appealed to Sheriff Wilson not to impose a custodial sentence but instead give the offender a chance to get back on “a straight road”.
Newlands, previously of Glamis Road in Wick but soon to be moving to Thurso, was instead ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and placed under supervision.
After reading a background report on the accused, Sheriff Wilson 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.”
The sheriff told Newlands he had “only just” been persuaded not to jail her, warning she’d be locked up if she doesn’t fully comply with the court order.
