Married father robbed by three men in East Lancashire

An East Lancashire man was recently blackmailed and robbed of £40,000 by a gang of three men. The man, who is married, met one of the perpetrators, Kamar Ilyas, on the dating app Grindr and set up a meeting with him.

The victim and Ilyas were caught together in bed by two other men, Aman Khan and Khalil Chaudhry who filmed them. Ilyas, was in on the plan and helped them carry it out. They threatened to release the video on social media and claimed that he was sleeping with a minor, even though Ilyas is a 32-year-old man. This gave them leverage to blackmail him and get him to hand over the money they demanded.

According to Judge Simon Medland QC, “It is clear blackmail is to be regarded as an offence which is nasty, ugly and vicious. It is very serious. It is, in some cases, akin to robbery. Offending of this kind justifies an element of deterrence in the sentence. Also, in cases, whereas here – there are threats to disclose embarrassing or discreditable conduct, that may make the matter more serious because of its shattering effect on the victim and because by its nature it tends to discourage victims from reporting such crime.”

All three men have been charged and jailed for a combined duration of 18 years.