Prolific online sex blackmailer jailed
Anthony Burns admitted more than 40 charges involving the abuse of women and children online.
Last updated 19th Jan 2024
A prolific online sex blackmailer has been jailed for a string of offences against children and adults across the UK.
Anthony Burns used dating and so-called sugar daddy sites to identify victims.
The 39-year-old admitted more than 40 charges, including 26 counts of blackmail, six relating to indecent images of children and two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
Following a two-day hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, Burns - originally from Suffolk - has today (19 January) been sentenced to 24 years in prison.
He will also serve an extended five-year period on licence following his eventual release.
Addressing Burns as she passed sentence, Judge Sarah Buckingham said: "Your offending took place over a two-and-a-half-year period.
"You did not care about the anguish you caused and had complete disregard for your victims' suffering."
She told the 39-year-old he was someone who was "arrogant with a deep-seated cruel streak" and had caused "immense harm and distress".
Birmingham Crown Court was told Burns learned online blackmail techniques from Abdul Elahi, who was jailed by the same judge for 32 years in 2021, after targeting an estimated 2,000 people globally.
The judge added: "You needed no encouragement (from Elahi). You were no junior partner - you encouraged him."
Eight victims of Burns' faced him in court to read out impact statements, with one saying: "He doesn't have any control over me any more. I want him to feel the fullest force of the law."
Perverse interest in sexual activity
The court heard that Burns had a perverse interest in sexual activity, including with animals, and demanded sexual videos from victims after tricking them into sending their personal and social media details and addresses.
Prosecutor Kate Temple-Mabe described Burns' offending in 2018, 2019 and 2020 against victims in the USA, UK and Australia: "Behind every communication was a desire to force women to perform sexually degrading acts online, which he would screenshot."
The carefully thought-out process of the blackmail offences, including threats to post videos and images online or contact family members, "terrified victims into meeting his demands", the court heard.
The first of eight women who read out victim personal statements told the court she feared that Burns was capable of visiting her house, and might sexually attack her or even murder her.
The businesswoman, who cannot be identified, said: "I could not stop thinking about it. Everything I had planned was tainted."
Turning to face Burns in the glass-fronted dock, the woman, who read her statement from the witness box, added: "He doesn't have any control over me any more.
"I don't care about him.
"I want him to feel the fullest force of the law. He needs to be punished for what he did."
Victims suffered panic attacks
Seven other women attended court to read their statements in person, with some saying they had considered taking their own lives or taken overdoses, and others telling how they had struggled to breathe due to the shock of threats and the "mental torture" perpetrated by Burns.
Another complainant, who suffered crippling panic attacks after being targeted while looking for a partner on a dating site, said: "The person I began to communicate with was Anthony Burns.
"He blackmailed me to produce this disgusting video. I felt physically sick. It was a vicious cycle I could not break."
Offering mitigation, defence barrister Hugh Forgan said Burns, who was addicted to pornography, had experienced traumatic events earlier in his life, including the death of a partner in a car crash.