R v TIR

Facts

The applicant, referred to by the cipher "TIR" to protect the anonymity of her two children (aged 14 and 12), had been in a relationship with the complainant, "C", for about 11 years until he left in 2019. C described an unhappy relationship: he had first tried to separate in 2012 but remained after the applicant threatened to take their sons to Spain, and in around 2015 he attempted suicide, the police preventing it. After the separation the applicant refused to accept the break-up and made contact with the boys difficult, and there were contested and lengthy Family Court proceedings. To force the relationship to continue she threatened, in March 2020 and again in April 2020, to email C's employer with wild and unsubstantiated allegations — that he attended work under the influence of drugs and alcohol, extorted women for money through prostitution, and had failed to disclose a positive Covid-19 test — and in July 2020 she carried out the threat. C was drug- and alcohol-tested, his reputation and that of his employer were damaged, and he has not seen his children since. Charged with blackmail, she pleaded not guilty at the 2021 plea and trial preparation hearing and only pleaded guilty on 22 April 2026 after the jury was sworn; on 19 May 2026 Her Honour Judge Cohen, sitting at the Crown Court at Basildon, imposed 37 months' immediate imprisonment. The Registrar referred the application for leave to appeal against sentence to the full court.