The Court artist’s impression of the ‘Royal Blackmail’ Trial of 2008 in Court 14 of the Old Bailey. Ian Strachan and Sean McGuigan sit in the dock.
Mr Justice Cooke presided over the case, and sits in the foreground. Tank Jowett Solicitors represented Ian Strachan.
Kidnapping and False Imprisonment are common law offences, and as Lord Lane said in 1983, where abductions were planned, and the victim was used as a hostage, or where ransom money was demanded, sentences would seldom be less than 8 years, with much longer sentences justified where violence or firearms were used.
Blackmail means ‘demanding money with menaces’ and carries a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment. The demand has to be unwarranted, in other words, without justification, and it must be accompanied by menaces, meaning threats or conduct designed to pressure the victim into complying with the demand.
Tank Jowett Solicitors have been representing defendants over the last 20 years facing such offences; see our case histories for a sample of our cases.
A common feature of such cases is that the alleged victim is often far from legitimate or honest themselves, or acts in such a way as to cause any reasonable person to question their behaviour.
In defending persons charged with such offences, it is essential that the alleged victim’s account is properly scrutinised, and every line of evidence is challenged where appropriate.