A dishonest woman who had casual sex with a man she had just sold an X-Box to later blackmailed him, telling her victim: “Pay me or I'll tell your girlfriend.”

Carlisle Crown Court heard how Wendy Kirkbride told the man she was pregnant and then repeatedly threatened to reveal their sexual encounter on Facebook if he did not pay for an abortion.

Her victim handed over more than £600 before he finally ran out of cash and, in desperation, turned to the police for help.

Kirkbride, 22, of Grasmere Avenue, Whitehaven, admitted blackmail; and perverting the course of justice by inventing a robbery to escape having to pay when she lost the keys to her rented home.

She was jailed for two years.

Neil Ronan, prosecuting at Carlisle Crown Court, described how in December last year the victim replied to an online advert for an X-Box which Kirkbride was selling.

He went to her home to buy it, paying her £40. After the sale was completed the two ended up having sex in the man's car.

It was Kirkbride who initiated the sex, said the barrister.

Weeks later, the defendant contacted him, saying that she felt sick and she put this down to being pregnant.

“She said she needed an abortion,” said Mr Ronan.

“She said that if he didn't pay she would tell his girlfriend. She said she would put it on Facebook so that everybody would know about it. Understandably, he began to worry.

"He didn't know what to do.”

Over the following two months, Kirkbride repeatedly threatened her victim, demanding more and more cash and saying she would put what happened on Facebook if he did not hand it over.

In late February, the man confided in a colleague at work, and he was told to stop paying.

In response to that refusal, Kirkbride gave the man a new deadline, saying that she would blow his cover by 1.30pm that day if he did not hand over £150.

When he again refused to pay, she again threatened him, and extended the deadline to the next day. Finally, having run out of money, the man contacted the police.

In total, the man had given Kirkbride £640.

Mr Ronan then outlined the second offence.

On January 2, Kirkbride rang the police to report that she had been robbed in King Street, Whitehaven, by a hoody-wearing stranger. She said the man took her handbag, which contained her house keys, bank cards, and Samsung phone.

Kirkbride was allowed to pay just £55 to get new keys for her housing association home.

Had she simply lost the keys, the replacement fee would have been £180, said the barrister. Yet when police investigated they quickly established that the robbery was fake.

“CCTV footage showed no such incident,” said Mr Ronan.

“She never reported the bank cards stolen and she continued to use them and she continued to use her Samsung phone.”

Alison Whalley, for Kirkbride, said the defendant's crimes were financially motivated.

She had rent arrears of more than £2,000. Referring to the phantom robbery, the barrister said: “She never pointed the finger at anyone.

“The blackmail does take on a more sinister tone.”

The defendant had suggested the man gave her the cash "legitimately" after a request but had then later admitted the blackmail, said Miss Whalley.

The barrister said Kirkbride was pregnant but she had since lost the child.

The defendant suffered anxiety and depression and there was concern that her risk of suicide would increase in prison.

Judge Peter Davies described Kirkbride as "dishonest and manipulative", pointing out that she repeatedly took money from her victim after threatening him, knowing he was not wealthy.

She had shown no remorse and seemed not to care about him.

The judge said: “Blackmail is a serious offence: it's not just taking money; it's taking money by force. You will go to prison straight away.”