Wealthy farmer gave almost £200,000 to 'menacing and callous' gang of travellers in three-week blackmail plot

The North Yorkshire man was told there was "a bullet for him" by one of the extortion gang, who were part of an elaborate plot to blackmail him.

Three men - Christy Stokes, 44, Dennis McGinley, 36, and Bernard McGinley, 25, - were jailed on Thursday.

• Farmer tells of family's terror

Christy Stokes

A judge at Teesside Crown Court branded the trio "ruthless" and detectives described the plot as "menacing and callous in the extreme".

Dennis McGinley was jailed for seven years and four months, his younger brother got four-and-a-half years, and Stokes was given 45 months.

The court heard how the farmer was approached by Dennis McGinley last August, who knew he had been the victim of a scam ten years earlier. He was told they could recover the £110,000 he had lost, but he must pay a 30 per cent fee in advance, said prosecutor Glenn Parsons.

Bernard McGinley

The Irish visitor also said he had enough evidence to put him away for ten years, claiming the money he paid a decade ago funded a drugs run.

What followed over the next fortnight was a series of chilling phone calls as the farmer was bounced around the country for cash drop-offs.

By the beginning of September, he had exhausted his own money and that of his family and friends, and called in police, said Mr Parsons.

The first meeting took place at Scotch Corner, and the victim was ordered to go to Richmond withdraw £12,000.

The following day, he took out another £25,000 from a bank in Darlington - and then "it all went wrong" with a series of threats.

Further meetings took place in Staffordshire and London as the farmer was warned by 'the big boss' that he could "make people disappear".

On one occasion, he sold a tractor when he was threatened with "a bullet in his head" when he could not meet a £48,000 demand.

The man - from Richmondshire and in his 50s, who has now received his £196,000 back - was said to have been terrified.

Bianca McGinley, 31, Dennis's wife, was given a six-month suspended jail term after she admitted a charge of money laundering.

Shortly before their arrest, the couple were caught on CCTV at a hotel on the outskirts of London after a spending spree at Harrods.

The court heard about their previous crimes - including a similar blackmail plot involving farmers in North Yorkshire and Wales in 2009.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, described last summer's scam as "well-planned and clinically-executed" and said Dennis McGinley led it.

The court heard how the three men were arrested in a Vauxhall Insignia in the car park of the Hilton Hotel in Bracknell, Berkshire.

Dennis McGinley's gym bag contained a fraudulent bankers draft in the sum of £3.5m, and Stokes had £69,000 in cash in his caravan.

Bianca McGinley

Dennis McGinley, who lived with his wife and brother at a travellers site in Fivehead, Somerset, was described by his barrister as "the mouthpiece" but told the court that he was acting on the instructions of another.

Christy Stokes, who lived with his family on a site in Micheldever, Hampshire, was described as "a gentleman".

Bernard McGinley was described as "stupid and naive" for getting involved in the plot that he said was already running.

Detective Inspector Mark Pearson said after the case: “The blackmail conspiracy was menacing and callous in the extreme.

“They deliberately targeted the farmer and subjected him to a terrifying ordeal for nearly three weeks.

"He was in a desperate state when he reported the matter to the police and genuinely feared for his own life and the safety of his family."

The officer added: “The defendants travelled all over the country to commit this crime and it may be that there are more victims from the farming community around the UK who have, so far, been too afraid to come forward to the police.

“I hope news of the imprisonment of the McGinleys and Stokes will give any other potential victims the confidence to report their own dealings with this group.”

SO WHO WERE THE BLACKMAILERS?

DENNIS McGinley, who lived with his wife and brother at a travellers site in Fivehead, Somerset, has written to the farmer to apologise.

His barrister Nicholas Worsley described him as "the mouthpiece" but told the court that he was acting on the instructions of another.

Mr Worsley said he had been abducted at gunpoint in Essex in 2003 and was in fear - and the judge said: "So he should know what it's like."

He said it was "remarkable" that the money had been paid back and had not "vanished never to be seen again" as usual in cases like this.

McGinley warned his 2009 victim - who was fleeced out of £778,000 - that he worked for the IRA, had a gun in his car and would use it.

Mr Worsley said: "Upon his release from his last period of incarceration, pressure was put on him to make up money that was gone.

"As a result of that, he went back to act as a trusted lieutenant, as a front man, as the face of this period of offending.

"He knows he has wasted many years of his life locked up, and knows he will spend more years of years locked up as a result of this.

"He has realised that this is not the way to spend the rest of his life . . . he knows that he is in trouble and is going to prison."

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, said he had "no feeling at all for his victim" and said: "Your expressions of remorse ring hollow."

CHRISTY Stokes, who lived with his family on a site in Micheldever, Hampshire, was described by his barrister as "a gentleman".

Balbir Singh, mitigating, said he had been born and raised in Ireland, never went to school, and worked hard from a young age with horses.

Fifteen years ago, he travelled to England to buy tools, machinery and generators with a plan to sell them on at markets and boot sales.

"He is not the type to be an organiser or a planner of an offence like this," said Mr Singh. "He is a million miles away from being that.

"He was essentially used as a back-up driver. That's the essence of it. He never met or phoned [the victim] and never took delivery of money."

Mr Singh said the £69,000 found in his caravan was family savings from his "hard work" - but it has been used to help pay back the farmer.

"He has already been very very substantially punished for this offence," added the barrister. "He has let that money go."

Judge Bourne-Arton said despite being paid just £5,000 for his role, he was part of a conspiracy which extorted almost £200,000.

BERNARD McGinley was described by his barrister as "stupid and naive" for getting involved in the plot that he said was already running.

Richard Herrmann, mitigating, said the father-of-three was a man of effectively good character with just a minor theft on his record.

Mr Herrmann said he had no idea what had happened to the "susceptible, vulnerable and readily exploitable" victim ten years earlier.

He said McGinley was already in the North-East when he heard there was a blackmail plot, and foolishly joined it at a late stage.

"His involvement was from naivety and stupidity, and for that he is deeply regretful and remorseful, and wishes to express that through me.

"He is a million miles away from being someone who in any way initiated, controlled or directed the path of this conspiracy."

Judge Bourne-Arton told him: "You may be the youngest of the defendants, but you are still of an age when you should have known better."

All three men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud.