Brothers 'off on spending spree' after alleged £10k blackmail

Published on Friday 29 May 2009 22:24

TWO brothers spent hundreds of pounds on designer clothes within minutes of allegedly blackmailing a bank worker, a jury was told yesterday.

The men had raised suspicions in a fashionable city-centre shop when they went in with "a huge wad" of 50 notes and were heard asking: "How much have we got?"

They then paid cash for 640 of Stone Island clothing, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

Stephen Dobson, 39, and John Dobson, 36, deny extorting 10,000 from the man, 55, after threatening to reveal to his wife that he had been seeing a prostitute for almost three years.

It is also alleged they warned him he would have a finger cut off and his wife would be raped in front of their children if he did not pay.

The man told the court he took out a loan at a bank in George Street, Edinburgh, on 17 October last year and asked for an immediate cash withdrawal of 10,000.

It was provided in 50 notes and he said he gave the money to the brothers, who were with a third man.

A short time later, the jury heard, three men entered the Cruise store in George Street. "They pulled out a good amount of cash and kept saying, 'How much have we got? How much have we got?' It made me suspicious because we get counterfeit cash and are always wary when a large amount of cash is present," said Jamie Ireland, a supervisor in the shop, who identified the accused as two of the men.

"I found it quite odd, because if you have cash in your hand, you should know how much it is."

Jonathan Rosie, 22, a sales assistant, said the men had a "huge wad of 50 notes".

He helped them try on items and they bought Stone Island goods worth 640, including a 180 jumper and a 230 top. The trial will continue next week.