Brothers' jail term for blackmail

Lord Philip at the High Court in Edinburgh said it was a 'sinister' crime

Two Edinburgh brothers have been jailed for eight years each for extorting £10,000 from a married bank worker over his affair with a prostitute.

Stephen Dobson, 39, and John Dobson, 36, from Portobello, had denied blackmailing the 55-year-old.

The jury returned guilty verdicts against both brothers on a charge of extorting £10,000 from the man on 17 October last year.

A jury heard they threatened to expose his relationship with a sauna worker.

Judge Lord Philip, at the High Court in Edinburgh, on Thursday said members of the public find the offences "sinister and disturbing" and he said he had to reflect their concern over the "particularly nasty crimes".

They were crimes which ordinary people find particularly sinister and disturbing Lord Philip High Court in Edinburgh

He told the pair: "You have both been convicted of crimes which, as far as I am aware, are not frequently met with in these courts, as other crimes are.

"They were crimes which ordinary people find particularly sinister and disturbing. There is a cowardly aspect to them as well.

"The victims of the crimes were, for one reason or other, vulnerable people - maybe because of their own weakness - but nonetheless they were vulnerable."

The bank worker told the trial he was warned that if he did not cough up the money, the brothers would tell his wife about his regular visits to a sauna.

The affair began in 2005 and lasted about three years.

The jury found that after meeting up in Musselburgh, East Lothian, the pair threatened the victim with violence, held a knife at his face and forced him to drive to George Street in Edinburgh, where he withdrew the money and handed it over.

Lord Philip said the two men had preyed upon their victims' vulnerability and weaknesses.

Defence counsel Susan Duff, representing John Dobson, told the court her client feels remorse over what took place.

She said: "His position was and remains that he did not appreciate what was happening before it was too late.

"He also realises that what happened was very frightening for the complainer and he's asked me to apologise on his behalf to the complainer and his family for the distress that he caused to them."