Sex worker and husband jailed for blackmailing potential clients
The couple threatened to expose potential clients unless they paid money.
A sex worker and her husband who blackmailed her online clients by threatening to expose them unless they paid money have been sentenced to prison.
Daniel Williamson, 40, and Leanne Potter-Williamson, 39, targeted multiple individuals over several months, using threats to extract payments, Cambridge Crown Court heard.
Judge Philip Grey jailed Williamson for seven years and four months, describing him as the "driver of this offending." He sentenced Potter-Williamson to three years and one month in prison, emphasising her role as a "willing and enthusiastic collaborator."
Prosecutor Neil King explained that Potter-Williamson, of Crowland, Lincolnshire, met men online while offering adult services. She and Williamson, of Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, then threatened to reveal personal information unless the men paid.
One victim received threats from Potter-Williamson, who said she knew his partner, demanding money to keep quiet. He sent three payments totalling £130 to an account in Williamson's name.
Another victim received messages from a phone number linked to Williamson, saying: “I will be on my way to your home address for a chat. Let’s hope the wife is not home, as she will be pissed with you.”
Williamson pleaded guilty to 10 counts of blackmail, involving multiple victims, between August 2023 and January 2024. Potter-Williamson admitted to three counts of blackmail between August and October 2023.
Judge Grey noted that the couple had been facing financial difficulties, with Williamson citing a gambling problem that left him in debt, and Potter-Williamson referencing the use of illegal substances.
He said Williamson “appears to have come up with the idea of blackmailing potential clients of your wife, threatening to expose them to their partners.”
The judge said: “You knew or you certainly hoped that those who received messages would be so horrified and appalled that they would agree to pay you money.
“You wanted to terrify or horrify your victims,” he added, acknowledging that none of the targeted individuals had engaged in illegal behaviour.
Charles Myatt, representing Potter-Williamson, said she had opened an account on an adult website in a “genuine, albeit desperate, way to make money,” before the pair began targeting her clients.
Christopher Jeyes, representing Williamson, stated his client “recognises what he did was unpleasant and disgraceful in many different ways.”