A man has been sentenced to three years and four months in jail for numerous counts of blackmail.

Archie Musgrove, 21, of Mount Lane, Bracknell, was sentenced following a hearing at Reading Crown Court on Monday November 25.

Musgrove previously pleaded guilty to 16 counts of blackmail in a hearing at the same court on September 3 this year. A further 38 counts of blackmail were taken into consideration.

Between August 2023 and July 2024 Musgrove used Whatsapp and social media in order to contact people he had never met before.

In many of his contacts he advised the victim that they had met at a festival and that they owed him money for drugs.

Some victims sent money to him as they were afraid he would harm them or their families. When they didn’t send money he became increasingly aggressive and made more threats to harm them.

In all, Musgrove took around £9,000 from his victims.

He was arrested on August 5 2024 and charged the same day.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Natalie Powell, said: “Musgrove was clearly intent on making money through fear and intimidation and by bombarding people he had never met with messages demanding money.

“I am satisfied that he has been jailed and I hope the message is clear that such behavior is not acceptable.

“I would like to thank the victims in this case for coming forward and supporting our investigation.

“Additionally I hope this investigation shows that if you are a victim of such a fraud that we will investigate and we will bring offenders to justice and will support victims.”