Woman found guilty of attempting the blackmail a Sussex businessman for £10m

Jennifer Mbazira, 50, called herself Delilah on the exclusive dating app Encounters where she met the former company director and threatened to tell family, friends and business contacts he made her perform sickening sex acts if he did not pay.

A jury at Portsmouth Crown Court found her guilty of blackmail following a five-day trial.

His Honour Judge William Ashworth remanded her in custody and told Mbazira she is likely to be jailed.

“It’s likely you will receive an immediate custodial sentence of two years or more,” he said.

Asked if she understood, Mbazira said: “I don’t have to comment on anything about my life any more.”

She told the court the businessman subjected her to physical, racial and sexual abuse during the two-and-a-half years she knew him.

In a series of emails and WhatsApp messages after the relationship ended, Mbazira demanded the £10m hush money with menaces after accusing the retired businessman of subjecting her to degrading sexual acts.

The businessman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described her allegations as ridiculous and denied ever abusing Mbazira. He described their on/off relationship as consensual and fun.

Mbazira, who represented herself, claimed her demands for £10m were part of a fictionalised account of her life she was writing and never intended as blackmail threats.

Personal trainer Mbazira claimed she was standing up for her rights when she demanded £10m from the businessman who she claimed had promised to make her big.

Mbazira told the jury they had a conversation in her flat and where he promised to fund her fashion businesses with millions of pounds.

Orlando Gibbons for the Crown told Mbazira she knew exactly what she was doing when she demanded £10m from the businessman after lawyers she consulted told her he had no case to answer.

“You thought you were entitled to money from him and you knew you were not,” he told her.

In an email, Mbazira asked the businessman why he had not taken her on holiday or bought her a Channel hand bag. She claimed dating the businessman had cost her a lot of money in dresses, waxing, nails, hair and train tickets.

After sending her £2,000, he offered to pay another £20,000. Mbazira sent another email demanding £10m, the court heard.

She wrote: “You say you want me gone, to leave you alone and keep our relationship quiet.

“I need a new home and business and to help my son with his studies.

“I’ll scrap plans for my memoir and never contact you again.

“I’m looking at £10 million.

“This will enable us to peacefully move on with our lives.”

Asked by Orlando Gibbons for the prosecution how he felt after reading the email, the businessman said: “I took it totally seriously.

“I felt it was absolutely unjust and unwarranted and bore absolutely no relation to the reality of the situation.

“I seemed to have become a fictional person in her mind. She could not take on board I was not a billionaire and I felt intensely threatened by it.”

Orlando Gibbons for the Crown said Mbazira made an unwarranted demand of £10m in order to make financial gain for herself and to deprive the businessman of his money and reputation.

Mbazira was arrested in London in February 2019.

His Honour Judge William Ashworth told Mbazira she would be back in court next month for sentencing.