A man blackmailed a former partner by threatening to disclose highly personal information about her unless she handed over £20,000, a court has heard.
Steven Hermon also threatened to burn down the couple's former home and wanted to know if his ex was prepared to pay to get some of her photo albums back.
The 55-year-old's barrister told Swansea Crown Court the offences happened "at the peak of an acrimonious break-up" and had been "fuelled by anger and resentment".
Break-up and threats
Ian Wright, prosecuting, told the court the complainant in the case ended her relationship with Hermon in January 2023 due to ongoing issues and then moved out of the couple's west Wales home with her son helping her to load her possessions into a camper van. He said inevitably the woman was unable to fit all of her belongings into the van and some were left behind when she moved out.
The court heard Hermon "did not take the separation well" and his reaction was "wholly irrational".
The prosecutor said in the weeks after the split the defendant started sending messages to his ex in which he threatened to burn the house down and sent messages containing the fire emoji.
Demand for money
The court heard Hermon then began to try to "extort money from his former partner" by threatening to disclose highly sensitive information about her unless she paid him £20,000. The woman refused to pay and the defendant accused her of being "f***** up in the head". Hermon then sent the woman pictures of a bonfire and repeated his threats to disclose the private information.
The prosecutor said in November 2023 the family home was sold and the couple's joint bank account was closed down and the complainant "hoped that would be an end to the matter" and there would be no more contact.
But the following month Hermon messaged his ex to say he had found some of her old photo albums from when she was younger and asked if she wanted them. When she replied that she did the defendant asked her how much they were worth to her.
Disclosure and sentencing
The court heard that in December 2023, having not received the £20,000 he was demanding, Hermon carried out his threat and disclosed the personal information about his former partner. When the complainant found out what had happened she went to the police.
In a statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister the complainant said the disclosure of the private information had affected her, her family, and her friends in "multiple ways". She said she had been left struggling to eat and sleep, and suffering with panic attacks, and she said it had taken all her strength to keep her family together.
Steven Hermon, aged 55, of Dan-y-bryn, Alltwalis, Carmarthenshire, had previously pleaded guilty on the day of trial to blackmail when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has a previous conviction for assault occasioning actual bodily harm from Oxford Crown Court from 2022 – an offence which saw him assaulting a neighbour with a piece of wood and for which he was given a community order.
Ian Ibrahim, for Hermon, said the offence had been committed "at the peak of an acrimonious break-up" and was "without doubt fuelled by anger and resentment". He said it was a "rather mean offence" and said his client wishes he had never sent the messages.
The barrister said references before the court spoke highly of the defendant and he said there was also a commendation from the fire service in Oxfordshire which related to an incident when his client was a younger man and had gone into house which was on fire to rescue a toddler.
Judge Catherine Richards said following the ending of a relationship the defendant had threatened to disclose "highly personal and sensitive information" which he had learned of during the course of the relationship. She said the subsequent disclosure of that information caused the defendant's ex-partner "substantial distress".
The judge said the starting point for sentence for blackmailing someone in the way Hermon did was custody and she said having carefully considered the imposition guidelines she was "just about persuaded" that a sentence of immediate imprisonment was not the only option – though she added she was "not wholly impressed" by Hermon's attitude to the author of the pre-sentence report.
With a 10% discount for his guilty plea the defendant was sentenced to 21 months in prison suspended for 18 months and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and to abide by a 90-day nightly curfew.
