Gay Couple Jailed for Blackmailing Married Man They Met on Grindr

A gay couple from Gloucester, England will be spending time behind bars after they blackmailed a married man they met on Grindr, reports BBC.

Daniel Edwards, 29, was sentenced to serve two years and ten months, while Wagner, 30, was sentenced to serve one year and eight months.

Both men admitted they blackmailed the unnamed victim with threats they would forward messages they exchanged and photos to his wife after they discovered he was married, unless he paid the couple PS1,500.

Senior crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service in Wessex, Kate Lewis, told the BBC the crime was treated as a homophobic hate crime because Edwards threatened to "out the victim if he refused to pay the sum of money demanded" even though "he knew the harm it would cause to the victim and his family."

"We considered the case as a homophobic hate crime because of the perception that the defendants were motivated by hostility towards the victim because of his sexuality," she said. "The defendants understood the sensitivity of the victim's situation and cruelly used this against him."

She added, "This case shows that homophobia can exist even in a situation where it is least expected."

Sentencing the couple was Recorder Maria Lamb, who said, "I have read the victim's personal statement. It details the misery and unhappiness that being subjected to this course of conduct left him feeling."

She added, "No doubt it had implications for his wife as well."