A man who was let out of prison under the government’s early release scheme, after being jailed for blackmailing people over their missing pets, went on to blackmail one of his previous victims within a fortnight of being freed.
Brandon Woolveridge, 25, had been jailed for 42 months at Preston crown court in October last year. On Friday, he was jailed for 27 months at the same court for what judge Heather Lloyd described as offence with an “identical modus operandi”.
Woolveridge had been released on either 11 or 12 September, the court heard, under the scheme designed to ease jail overcrowding.
Less than two weeks later, he had been arrested again by Cumbria police, after he made a phone call on 24 September demanding £1,000 for the return of a missing dog.
Prosecuting, Paul Brookwell said that the victim, Mandy Butler, who works as a volunteer with the Lost Dog Tracking Team, helping to reunite people with missing pets, had received another call two days previously demanding money, which she believed had also been made by Woolveridge, having recognised his voice from his previous offending.
The second time, Brookwell said, “she recognised the voice, she recorded the call, and it was the defendant”.
Woolveridge demanded £500 upfront, saying he would drop the dog with a vet, the court heard, and “threatened that if police were involved she would never see the dog again”.
No money changed hands, the court was told, with Butler reporting Woolveridge to police instead.
Tanya Elahi, defending, said the “main and greatest” mitigation she could offer was “his guilty plea today”.
She said he had “taken responsibility for his actions”, and also asked for his age to be taken into account, saying “particularly in young men, maturity develops slowly”.
Sentencing Woolveridge, Lloyd said he had told his victim he was a “man of his word”, promising he would return the dog once he received the money.
He had warned Butler against reporting him, the court heard, telling her: “I swear down on my boy’s life that you will never see the dog again. Us Travellers don’t mess about.”
Sentencing him to three years in prison, reduced to 27 months with credit for pleading guilty, the judge told Woolveridge: “You are obviously not a man of your word, you are a thoroughly dishonest person.”
Last year, Woolveridge had been convicted of nine counts of blackmail, and asked for 73 similar offences to be taken into consideration.
He had victims all over the country, responding to adverts that had been posted on social media about lost or stolen pets, and in some cases threatening to kill the animals if their owners did not pay up.
In a statement read to the court, Butler said she was an animal lover who had been volunteering in the role for 11 years.
“I see the trauma and upset of people who have lost their pets,” she said. “Pets are part of the family,” and she had been upset to see “Brandon and his gang try to exploit this trauma” for money.
Butler said in a statement that Woolveridge’s most recent victim had been an elderly man who was terminally ill with cancer, adding that the “effect on the elderly male was heartbreaking”.
She said she could not believe Woolveridge had offended “within two weeks, without a thought for the devastation he is causing” after being convicted and let out early.
Speaking to the Guardian after Woolveridge was sentenced, Butler said she runs “a few” lost dog groups, and often shares her number on posts, so had had several calls from Woolveridge in the past.
“He’d ring me about a dog, and then five minutes later, ring me about another dog, not realising it’s the same number he’s just called,” she said.
Butler said when she heard his voice she “knew straight away that it was him”.
“My stomach turned,” she added. “I honestly thought he’s somehow got a phone in prison, because I knew he was in prison.”
Butler thought, she said, that there was “no way they could have let him out after such a short time”.
“For the courts to have allowed him an early release was absolutely shocking. I think it’s appalling what they’re doing.”
