Stornoway Free kirk minister fined for extortion over explicit images scam
David Finlay Macdonald, from Stornoway in Lewi,s pretended to be a female named "Eilidh" and threatened to disclose sensitive information about his victim if she did not send him explicit images of herself.
The 32-year-old used the fake online persona to communicate with his victim between January and December 2010.
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Hide AdHe pled guilty to a single allegation of attempting to coerce a woman to send him intimate images of herself by extortion at Stornoway Sheriff Court in November and on Wednesday he was sentenced to 180 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £750 compensation by Sheriff Gordon Lamont.
Not guilty pleas over two accusations relating to alleged similar incidents in 2015 involving two other females were accepted by the Crown.
Macdonald’s victim told the court she believed 'Eilidh' was a real person during the MSN Messenger conversations they had online over two days.
She added: "I felt I was being blackmailed."
The woman said that she was "sickened to my stomach" and had refused to comply and never sent any pictures to “Eilidh”.
Following the sentencing hearing, Procurator Fiscal for Grampian, Highland and Islands Andy Shanks said: "David Macdonald’s deliberate and persistent deceit caused his victim great distress.
"This prosecution should serve as a warning to others that we take crimes of this nature seriously.
"I would urge anyone who has been the victim of similar offending to come forward and seek support."