Information on Loughborough

Trio found guilty in blackmail trial

Posted on 10/08/2009

arrest,villain,police,constabulary Trio found guilty in blackmail trial Scott Lansdowne, Kamaljit Khella and Jorawar Khella (l-r)

Scott Lansdowne, Kamaljit Khella and Jorawar Khella (l-r)

A brother and sister have today been found guilty at court for their part in a plot to try and frighten people into giving up large quantities of cash.

Jorawar (Jerry) Singh Khella (29) of Gretna Way, Leicester was found guilty of blackmail. His sister, Kamaljit Khella (30) also of Gretna Way, Leicester was found guilty perverting the course of justice.  A third defendant Scott Steve Lansdowne (36) of Corporation Road, Leicester pleaded guilty to two counts of blackmail at a hearing on June 30, 2009.

The offences date back to December 2008. The first victim was at home on December 1. He answered the door to Jarawar Khella and Scott Lansdowne and was told that if he didn’t give them £4,000 they would harm him, his children and his family. The victim, asked for more time to find the money and Khella gave him a week. The victim then contacted the police.

The following day the second victim, a local businessman, also received a visit. At a hearing in June Scott Lansdowne pleaded guilty to demanding £13,000 from this man and threatening to seriously harm him if he didn’t pay up. Khella and his sister were also charged with this offence but were found not guilty at court.

On December 3, Khella and Lansdowne were arrested, interviewed, charged  and remanded into custody. It was then that Khella enlisted the help of his sister. Kamaljit gave a statement to the police saying that both her brother and Lansdowne were with her at Gretna Way on December 1 and therefore could not have visited the house of the first victim.

This statement was later proved to be false due intensive investigative work by the investigation team.

All three will be sentenced at the beginning of September.

Detective Chief Inspector, Chris Redfern, who led the investigation said:

“These individuals targeted people who they knew were law-abiding members of the community. They believed that they could easily intimidate them and  thought they had access to money.

“They used the threat of violence and harm to their family and children in order to attempt to frighten them into giving them cash. Fortunately, both victims had the courage to contact the Police and the trust and confidence that we would investigate their claims properly.  

“I hope today’s result reassures anyone who may be a victim of this kind of intimidation to come forward and report the crimes to us. We realise it can take a great deal of strength to report crimes like this to the police but we promise to investigate them thoroughly and professionally. We will do everything in our power to protect your families while we investigate the offences against you.

“The most powerful deterrent, as demonstrated amply in this case, is to stand firm with the criminal justice agencies and let justice be done. This solidarity will ensure that criminals like Khella, his sister and Lansdowne will not get away with crimes like this.

“It also sends a very strong message to people like Kamaljit, who feel that they can lie to the police in order to cover up the criminal actions of their family. Perverting the course of justice is a very serious offence with very real consequences. Our investigations are thorough and if you lie to the police in order to prevent a prosecution against a loved one or friend, you can expect our investigations to reveal that lie and you will be prosecuted and sentenced accordingly.

“I’d also like to pay tribute to the dedication and professionalism of the investigation team who worked on this case, who collected the evidence and supported the victims, as well as colleagues in the other criminal justice agencies who helped us secure today’s conviction. Today’s result is a testimony to everyone’s efforts and attention to detail.”