A BUSINESSMAN has been jailed for a year for his “reprehensible” conduct in blackmailing a former SNP councillor and his wife after discovering she provided escort services.
Alan Hurren demanded sexual favours and £4,000 after finding out Jean Robertson, 58, whose husband Keith once served on Perth and Kinross Council, sold sexual services on the internet.
The 63-year-old wrote to the couple threatening to expose Mrs Robertson’s secret life, saying he wanted to “teach them a lesson”.
Hurren was sentenced yesterday after he had earlier pleaded guilty to a string of charges, including extorting money and sexual favours, at Perth Sheriff Court.
Sentencing, Sheriff William Wood said: “This was a course of criminality so reprehensible it can only be dealt with by a custodial sentence.
“From what I know of them, which is very little, Mr and Mrs Robertson are presented as law-abiding citizens who have spent a part of their lives committed to service in the community.
“Whether elements of their A lifestyle are considered morally offensive to you or you find them hypocritical is not a matter for the courts or for you.
“You chose to embark on this criminal venture. You have shown comparatively little remorse for your conduct.”
Hurren, 63, of Falkirk, informed Mrs Robertson – who was offering sex to men and women online via the website AdultNetwork.com – she would need to provide “sexual favours” to keep him quiet.
The first of three letters sent detailed her work, and included pictures of her undressed taken from the site. It threatened to expose her lifestyle to “friends, family and neighbours unless the sum of £4,000 was paid”.
It also contained a demand for Mrs Robertson, who used an online moniker for her escort services, to “engage in sexual activity” with whoever sent the letter.
Hurren was detained by police on suspicion of attempted extortion after intelligence linked him to the letters.
He produced a USB stick from a recycling bin that contained material relevant to the case and told officers he wanted “to teach Keith Robertson a lesson, as he was pretending to be a pillar of the community”.
The court had heard he demanded £4,000 a week, as he believed this was the sum Mrs Robertson made from her escort services. Mr Robertson was formerly a councillor with Perth and Kinross and has addressed committees at Holyrood on disability issues.
Hurren admitted attempting to extort money and sexual favours from the Robertsons at their Perthshire home and his own home between Saturday, November 21, and Tuesday, December 1 last year.
He admitted intending to menace the couple and putting them in a state of fear, alarm and apprehension of their lifestyles being exposed to friends, family and others.
Hurren admitted threatening to expose them for the purported purpose of “extorting money and sexual favours”.
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