A 46-year-old man has been jailed for three years after a failed attempt at blackmail.
Steven Bunting, of High Barns, Ely, sent a letter demanding £35,000 in cash from a man he knew from a social club, threatening to hurt his family if the money was not paid.
But he was soon foiled by police who discovered his fingerprint on the envelope and set a trap, leaving a black bag filled with paper in a bin, as demanded by Bunting in his letter.
When Bunting arrived to collect the bag, on October 31, he was arrested by police, who were waiting nearby in unmarked cars.
Bunting pleaded guilty to blackmail at Cambridge Crown Court, on Friday. He told judge Jonathan Haworth that he carried out the blackmail because he was struggling financially.
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