EXCLUSIVE Blackmailer who hacked intimate photos of A-list celebrity’s daughter is jailed for five years
- George Austin-Bohan hacked into the devices of the victim and her ex-boyfriend
- He stole nude photographs and videos- some of which taken when she was 16
An A-lister’s daughter had her intimate photos stolen in a terrifying blackmail plot.
George Austin-Bohan hacked into the devices of the victim and her ex-boyfriend, stole nude photos and videos – some taken when she was just 16 – then told her he would publish them if she did not send him £3,000.
When this failed to work he contacted the victim’s mother, sending her intimate photos of her daughter and warning that if he was not paid ‘I will be posting at midnight.’
The 28-year-old has been jailed for five-and-a-half years for blackmailing the woman, whose father is a world-famous celebrity and her mother, trying the same trick on one of his victims’ friends and separate drugs charges.
Austin-Bohan, who has a young son, and the victim had met but did not know each other well, Snaresbook Crown Court heard yesterday.
George Austin-Bohan hacked into the devices of the victim and her ex-boyfriend, stole nude photos and videos – some taken when she was just 16 – then told her he would publish them if she did not send him £3,000
In October that year, the victim received a threatening message on Instagram and again in December from the same account threatening to publish a sex tape, and messaged the terrified woman’s ex-boyfriend ordering him to make her ‘pay up’
In October that year, the victim received a threatening message on Instagram, David Baird, prosecuting said.
The messages said: ‘I am a professional hacker and I have nudes of you.
‘I hacked your boyfriend’s device and also yours.
‘I want some money or more nudes or I will expose you. If you don’t believe me I will share the photos.
‘Calling the police won’t do anything and if you do then you will still be exposed.
‘Just send me the money and I will delete the content.’
Austin-Bohan sent another message from the same account that December threatening to publish a sex tape, and messaged the terrified woman’s ex-boyfriend ordering him to make her ‘pay up.’
‘I only want £1,000, she is rich – that’s nothing,’ Austin-Bohan told the ex-partner.
The victim received a further message which said: ‘I have got nudes of you, I have hacked you and I will ruin your career if you don’t send me money in an hour.’
The victim, who is now in her 20s, reported the messages to the police but no further action was taken at the time.
She heard nothing more until April 2020, when Austin-Bohan sent her more threats along with images and links to prove he possessed the intimate photos.
He told her: ‘I want £3,000 in my PayPal account or I am posting all this.
‘I am not playing games.’
The thug also escalated his threats to his victim’s mother, messaging her: ‘Hi, please send £3,000 to my PayPal or I will expose your daughter, her sex tapes and her boyfriend.
‘Don’t think about calling the police, I am not from the UK so they can’t do anything.
‘I will be posting at midnight.’
Mr Baird said: ‘Austin-Bohan also sent some links to the mother of her daughter.
‘She could only see the thumbnail images but could see they were nude photographs of her and this caused huge distress.’
The victim was unable to sleep properly for months after the threats were made, and she was terrified she would never escape her tormenter, judge Alex Gordon said.
‘Her mother said she was incredibly distressed and overwhelmed, she did not know what to do and she was very concerned about the impact this would have on her young daughter,’ the judge added.
The court heard that Austin-Bohan also contacted a friend of the victim’s using the same username and informed her that a stolen image of her posing topless had been uploaded to a website.
‘She was then told that unless she sent further photos of her breasts the images would remain online and would not be taken down,’ Mr Baird said.
Two weeks later, the second victim realised it had been Austin-Bohan who was behind the sinister messages.
In a letter to the court, this victim wrote: ‘I was so upset that intimate pictures of me had been put on to the internet and could not be taken down.
‘This caused me so much stress and because it took place during lockdown I could not even meet with my friends to discuss what had happened.
‘I was worried that anyone who would search my name, including any potential clients, would see these images.’
Austin-Bohan was first arrested in May 2020, when his devices were seized.
Upon his arrest he told officers ‘this is a joke,’ but the images were later found by detectives on his computer.
He was released under investigation but when police came back to his home in north London they found an ounce of 92 per cent pure cocaine worth £1,300, some less pure cocaine worth £400, another £3,500 worth of ecstasy and cannabis and £800 cash.
He and his flatmate, Mustafa Karakaya, 24, were arrested and charged with possession with intent to supply.
Austin-Bohan pleaded guilty to blackmail and malicious communications in November, while both defendants admitted possession with intent to supply at the same hearing.
Benjamin Newton, defending Austin-Bohan, said his client understood the awful psychological effects his behaviour had on his victims, and he was remorseful for his actions.
Austin-Bohan, who has three previous convictions for drugs offences, was jailed for 52 months for the blackmail, reduced to 39 months for his guilty plea.
And he was given an additional 24 months for the drugs offences, to run consecutively.
Karakaya, who has 11 convictions for drug dealing, violence and possession of a weapon, was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Judge Gordon told Austin-Bohan: ‘You took private images of a young woman taken when she was 16 and 17 when she was participating in consensual sexual activity.
‘You made threats to publish these images if you were not paid money.
‘You made demands first to the daughter in 2018 and then you resurrected your blackmail to the daughter and also her mother in April 2020.
‘Blackmail is a very nasty and pernicious offence.
‘You have known and appreciated the very significant risk of psychological harm that would be inflicted upon your victim and her family.’
The judge ordered Austin-Bohan to sign the sex offenders register for ten years, and ordered the destruction of two devices.
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