Haley Meijer porn blackmail: Man jailed over £2m plot

James Casbolt was described by a judge as "dangerous" and "evil"

A man has been jailed for 12 years after trying to blackmail US heiress Haley Meijer out of £2m ($3.1m).

James Casbolt, from St Ives in Cornwall, previously admitted blackmail and stalking the hypermarket heiress, as well as harassing two other women.

Casbolt, 38, the former husband of Miss Meijer, repeatedly posted pornographic images of her online and demanded cash.

At Truro Crown Court, the judge said Casbolt had "depraved and distorted" values and an "evil" motive.

The court heard Casbolt became friends with Miss Meijer on Facebook and they met in person in May 2010.

They married in September 2011 and moved to Michigan in the US where Casbolt joined the US Army.

Hank Meijer, father of Haley Meijer, is chief executive of an American hypermarket chain

When he was posted to an army base in Texas he asked Miss Meijer for sexually explicit photographs and videos which she reluctantly gave him.

But when the couple split in June 2013 Casbolt posted sexually explicit images of her on Facebook and on a pornographic website, and demanded millions of dollars.

He also made "unrelenting" threats towards Miss Meijer and her relatives, the court heard.

Judge Christopher Harvey Clark told Casbolt: "I regard you as a dangerous man who is capable of using modern means of communication in a sinister and destructive way."

'Terrified and humiliated'

Casbolt had been remanded in a mental health unit but an expert report said he was not suffering from a mental disorder.

The judge said: "The circumstances of this offence reveal a highly intelligent and calculating criminal mind. Your motives were, to put it bluntly, evil."

He said Casbolt's actions "intimidated, terrified and humiliated" Miss Meijer and his mind was "obsessed with peculiar and distorted conspiracy theories".

"To adapt the celebrated phrase used about Lord Byron, you were not mad but you were bad and very dangerous to know for these women unfortunate enough to encounter you," the judge said.

The court heard Casbolt also harassed Simone Everett and surfing champion Anastassia 'Tassy' Swallow when back in St Ives.

He was sentenced to five years for blackmail and a further four years with one year on licence for stalking Miss Meijer.

He was given a further three years for harassing Ms Everett and one year concurrent for harassing Ms Swallow, making a total of 12 years.

Posting on Facebook, Ms Swallow warned that "you never know who's about and what might be acceptable in their heads".

She added her "thoughts are with the US family. Bet they're heaps relieved after today's hearing. I know I am."

Meijer: A business profile

• Meijer has 200 large stores across five states in the US

• The company has an estimated annual revenue of $15bn (£9.7bn)

• The Meijer company was founded in Michigan in 1934

• Hendrik Meijer and his son Frederik opened one of the first stores in the US to offer one-stop shopping in 1962

• Frederik ran the company from 1964 until he handed control to his sons, Hank and Doug, in 1990

Ms Meijer's father, Hank, is chief executive of American hypermarket chain Meijer, a company worth $9.5bn (£6.1bn) according to business analysts Forbes.