My son is being threatened!

[Assassin]

Long story, but my son has got mixed up with some real nasty guys. They more or less made him commit fraud to obtain goods, which they were going to sell on, to then obtain drugs. He (my son) got caught and because of his fear of these guys, he did not drop them in it.. He's been to court, and has to do a lot of community service for his sins. Meanwhile for some reason the 'bad guys' still want the money that they set out to get, £1500! They have been in contact via a third party, suggesting my son pay up 'or else'. We reported it to the local police, but there is no real evidence of the threat, though I can tell you my son is really scared of these people, and local police say there is nothing they can do. I have a name for the bad guy and his approx location and a vehicle number for the car the third party is driving. How can I proceed to ensure these people stop? The third party, a woman, is the girlfriend of bad guy, drives from Essex to visit my son, at work, to ask for the money..

advice/suggestions welcome.

His fraud offence was commited in Norfolk, bad guys live in Essex, we are in Cambridge

[nocturnal]

There isn't a lot you can do maybe write down all the events so if it goes to court you have dates and times to back up your story. You could hire a bodyguard if these guys are anything like the ones we have around our area.

[nocturnal]

also have you got any relations that would take your son in that don't live in the area, also he needs to get a job in a different place where no one knows him. I know it's a bit extreme but at least he will be safe and he can start a fresh.

[XDC]

The offence here is Making An Unwarranted Demand With Menaces - commonly referred to as Blackmail. If it was me I'd want to catch 'em, but just taking my copper's hat off for a moment I can see how it might be better for this lad to try and make a clean break from these people altogether.

I don't agree that nothing can be done, depending on the circumstances under which this woman is seeing the lad at work - is it in a building and always (assuming there's been more than one visit) in the same place? To be fair there need to be fairly frequent encounters and a reasonable chance of success before the police are likely to act, but there are plenty of stealth hi- tech solutions to put these people where they belong. The lad could be 'wired up' or it's perfectly feasible to install concealed sound and or video recording equipment on the premises out of hours. The force which should really take ownership of this case is the one covering the area of the lad's workplace which is where the offences are being committed.

Another possibility is for the lad to use a pocket dictaphone with a concealed microphone. These devices are usually well capable of picking up normal conversations in a good radius - I've used them myself in the past with good results. Whether the tape is admissable or not is amatter for the court to decide, but given the seriousness of this matter, I can't see it not being accepted without very good reason. If he goes this route and records threats from this woman do bear in mind that it may not necessarily implicate her boyfriend depending of course, on what she says.

This an extremely serious offence triable at Crown Court only, and carrying 14 years imprisonment. Even in these times of social worker type sentencing policies, it's likely that they would draw hefty prison sentences for this offence and I'd dearly like to see that outcome from this case. ;)

Good luck with it, but the lad needs to decide whether he wants to make a clean break from these people or set out to catch them. Doing nothing in the face of these threats just allows this pond life to get away with it.

[Halski]

The offence here is Making An Unwarranted Demand With Menaces - commonly referred to as Blackmail.

(snip)

This an extremely serious offence triable at Crown Court only, and carrying 14 years imprisonment. Even in these times of social worker type sentencing policies, it's likely that they would draw hefty prison sentences for this offence and I'd dearly like to see that outcome from this case. ;)


XDC - you are right, this does sound like hefty penalty (refreshingly so) out of curiosity, why does society regard this offence as being so serious (when manslaughter will often attract a lower sentence)?

[XDC]

Well manslaughter is 'The killing of a human being by a human being without malice aforethought either expressed or implied' In other words, unlike murder, it's not necessary to prove premeditation or intent, only that someone died as a result of an unlawful action. A good example is the guy who punches someone who falls, hits his head, and dies as a result. Clearly there was no intent to kill athough the assault was unlawful. Many cases fall into this category and it's not difficult to see that however restrained we are, we could easily find ourselves on the wrong end of a manslaughter charge in the face of enough provocation, or just finding ourselves in unfortunate circumstances, (the intruder in your home is a good example) which is why the distinction is made from premeditated murder. :)

Blackmail on the other hand is a wilful and premeditated offence calculated to extract money (actually it doesn't have to be money) from the unfortunate victim with total disregard for the stress, fear and suffering caused to that person, so it's quite right IMO that it carries the max sentence which it does.

I like the Hal 9000 siggy. :D

[Halski]

I agree, it must be really really awful to be blackmailed - seems to be one of the few offences with the sentence it merits (with some exceptions)....

[Assassin]

Thanks for the responses so far..

My lad is currently working for a supermarket chain, working in the car park, so they know where to find him. I have already considered the tape recording route to possibly to get some names and the demands on record.

According to my son the 'bad guy' rarely does the bad deeds himself, always getting others to the dirty work.

[SteveScooby]

With a name like Assassin, why don't you just "have a word" with the people threatening him!

[Assassin]

Funny you should say that Steve, but I was going to mention that in my last post, but two wrongs dont make a right (do they?).

[XDC]

You don't want to be stepping outside of the law to deal with these people. I know it can seem a like a good idea sometimes, but once you descend to their level, there's no knowing what they're capable of - they're not wired up like normal people, particularly where drugs are involved, the last thing you want is a running feud with these retards. ;)

Your lad should report this to the station covering his place of work, and whether they think they can do anything or not, it's a crime which should be recorded, investigated, and a Crime No issued. If anything untoward does befall your lad, the fact that the matter is reported will corrobotate his version of events. There's nothing more certain than these people will fall sooner or later, but in the meantime don't be fobbed off with excuses - it's a serious matter.

Blackmailers thrive on fear, and doing nothing just makes it easy for them. The lad needs to get out of this situation ASAP. He needs to make it quite clear he's finished with them, then if they don't get the message, he should dob 'em in - keeping his mouth shut has done him no good so far has it?

[nocturnal]

here is a good recorder http://www.cool-gadget-shop.com/spy-gadgets/micro-voice-recorder.html

[stuart30]

Assassin How old is your lad.?

[Assassin]

Son is 20, but not a very mature 20 year old!
Looks about 16, and acts like it sometimes!!

[stuart30]

Son is 20, but not a very mature 20 year old!
Looks about 16, and acts like it sometimes!!


Ok ;)

[nocturnal]

thats normal i am 23 act about 17