Man jailed for pet scam blackmailed victim again days after early release

A man who was let out of prison under the government's early release scheme, after being jailed for blackmailing people over their missing pets, went on to blackmail one of his previous victims within a fortnight of being freed.

- Hannah Al-Othman

Brandon Woolveridge, 25, had been jailed for 42 months at Preston crown court in October last year. Yesterday, he was jailed for 27 months at the same court for what Judge Heather Lloyd described as an offence with an "identical modus operandi".

Woolveridge was released on either 11 or 12 September, the court heard, under the government's early release scheme, designed to ease overcrowding in prisons.

Less than two weeks later, he was arrested again by Cumbria police, after he made a phone call on 24 September demanding £1,000 for the return of a missing dog.

Prosecuting, Paul Brookwell said that the victim, Mandy Butler, who works as a volunteer with the Lost Dog Tracking Team, helping to reunite people with missing pets, had received another call two days previously demanding money, which she believed had also been made by Woolveridge, having recognised his voice from his previous offending.

The second time, Brookwell said, "she recognised the voice, she recorded the call, and it was the defendant".