A solicitor handed over tens of thousands of pounds to a woman who blackmailed him after they met through the internet and had sex.

Samantha Patrick threatened to tell the lawyer's wife and his employers if he did not keep paying her.

By the time he involved the police she had received more than £34,000.

Patrick, 41, of Acres Hall Avenue, Pudsey, was today jailed for two years at Leeds Crown Court after admitting blackmail between March and December last year.

Robert Galley, prosecuting, said the lawyer, who cannot be identified, became involved with the mother of one after he went on websites including No String Adult Fun and Saucysingles.

They met up in Pudsey in late 2012 and after she mentioned she had a child at her home he took her to his address where they had sex.

He later dropped her off near her home and thought they had parted on good terms.

However a couple of weeks later she contacted him saying her washing machine had broken down and she needed some money.

Initially, he felt sorry for her and paid £200 into her bank account and continued to give her some other sums but by March the following year he was “tired of feeling obliged to assist her and had had enough of her sob stories.”

He told her he was not going to give her any more. When she asked for £1,000 and he refused she threatened to tell his wife they had been having sex if he did not pay, pointing out he had cheated on his wife in their marital bed.

After he paid up he received further messages by text, e-mail and by phone. She did not make the threats on every occasion but he understood it was implicit.

Over the following months he paid £15,750 into her bank account and had taken out a loan pretending it was for home improvements so he could meet her demands.

But by November he told her he could not afford to continue paying her. Mr Galley said Patrick told him if he did not she would make sure his family, neighbours and his work colleagues knew what he had been up to.

She told him in one message: “I’m not going away until you pay.”

On another occasion she said: “I wonder if your wife would like it if her work colleagues knew what you have been up to.”

By the time he did report the matter to the police he had paid out a further £19,000 in cash on top of the money into her account.

Mr Galley said the blackmail victim said he had felt stressed 24 hours a day trying to cope with her demands and was still £10,000 in debt as a result.

Lindsey Lobley, representing Patrick, said she suffered from depression and health problems and after moving home had felt lonely and isolated from adult contact.

She had turned to the internet and social media for new contacts and met the lawyer who gave her the attention she craved. He assisted her willingly to start with and she accepted she then took advantage of him.

“She understands now the implications of what she was doing but at the time did not realise it was so serious.”

Jailing pony-tailed Patrick, Recorder Anil Murray said she had met the man through an internet dating website without the knowledge of his wife and used that later to threaten him with exposure.

“Very significant sums of money were paid over as a result of your criminality.”