Snapchat: Pair jailed for threats and blackmail attempts

Gullaid Ibrahim (left) and Adam Nur were both found guilty of conspiracy to blackmail

Two men have been jailed after they attempted to blackmail the family of a woman they gave money to via Snapchat.

Gullaid Ibrahim, 27, and Adam Nur, 23, both from London, were involved in threats in Bedford and London last year.

They were both found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to blackmail at Luton Crown Court.

The judge, Justice Lynn Tayton QC, said the pairs' actions "had long-term psychological effects on the victims".

In October last year, the victim, a woman who lived in London, responded to an advert on Snapchat asking if she wanted to earn some money, the court heard.

She was told she would receive a £6,000 payment from which she could take a cut, but within days she started receiving threatening phone calls and texts in an attempt to recover the money.

The woman was then targeted by the gang at a hotel in London before a scooter was thrown through a window of a house in Bedford where she used to live.

Ibrahim and Nur then attempted to blackmail the woman's ex-partner, lying to him that they had kidnapped their young son, and demanded £8,000 for his return.

'Left paranoid'

In another in incident Bedford, three men pushed their way into the home of another family member, whose children were at the address, and demanded to know where the woman was.

They said they would hurt the family member if they did not settle the £35,000 debt they claimed was owed to them by the woman.

Ibrahim, of Aylesford Street in Pimlico, and Nur, of Bloemfontein Road in White City, were each sentenced to six years.

Nur was given an extra month on top of his sentence for breaching a restraining order.

Both were handed a five-year restraining order which prevents them from contacting their victims.

Justice Tayton said the victims "have been left paranoid and this has taken a toll on their personal lives".

She said the pair "hunted the victim and when you couldn't reach her, you resorted to threats designed to terrify the victim's son and ex-partner".

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