Bank worker denies lying about blackmail to cover prostitute payments

Published on Wednesday 27 May 2009 21:59

AN IT worker denied yesterday that he invented a story about being blackmailed to cover giving £1,100 to a prostitute.

The 55-year-old told a jury he had been forced to hand over cash to two men who threatened to tell his wife about his affair with a sauna worker.

However, under questioning by defence lawyers, the man admitted he had made no attempt to raise the alarm, and that one of his alleged attackers fell asleep waiting for him to get money at a bank.

The lawyers suggested the accused had simply been collecting the cash on behalf of the prostitute, but the man rejected the claim that he had willingly handed over wads of notes and that it was "more palatable" for his wife if he made himself out to be the victim of a crime.

Stephen Dobson, 39, and John Dobson, 36, deny extorting 10,000 from the man on 17 October last year.

The High Court in Edinburgh has heard that the man met Catherine Purcell at Carol's Sauna, Easter Road, Edinburgh, in 2005 and would pay up to 140 a week for her services.

The man alleged that Stephen Dobson and John Dobson demanded 10,000. He told the court he went to the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh's George Street to obtain a loan, and took an immediate 10,000 cash withdrawal, giving the money to Stephen Dobson.

The trial continues.