A WOMAN blackmailed a man when she tricked him into sending her a sexually explicit video of himself after she set up a fake Facebook account.

Sharon Jones, 45, from Blackwood, threatened her victim she would send the film to his family, friends and work colleagues unless he paid her £1,000.

Owen Williams, prosecuting, said she warned the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, she would do so on Christmas Day 2020.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how the complainant went to the police and Jones was arrested on December 18.

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Mr Williams said Jones and the victim began to “chitchat” about everyday life on Facebook before their conversations became sexualised.

She then persuaded him to send her a video he had made of him performing a sex act on himself.

The defendant, of Waunllwyn Crescent, pleaded guilty to blackmail.

When she was interviewed by detectives, she told them she was sorry for what she had done.

She had just one previous conviction for shoplifting in 1993 and a caution for perverting the course of justice in 1996.

Andrew Kendall, mitigating, said: “The defendant pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

“She has a very limited antecedent history and is not the type of person likely to be before the courts again.

“The defendant is genuinely remorseful.

“She struggles with her mental health quite significantly.”

Mr Kendall added how his client cares for her adult autistic son, her sister who suffers with seizures as a result of diabetes and her father who has the early onset of dementia.

Judge Jeremy Jenkins told Jones: “This is a very serious matter.

“Blackmail is a very nasty offence.”

But, he said, he was prepared to spare her immediate custody.

Jones was jailed for 14 months, suspended for 18 months.

She was ordered to complete a 12-day rehabilitation activity requirement and pay £500 costs.