Adobe StockA woman who blackmailed a man into paying her more than £6,000 in a fake pregnancy scam has been jailed for 15 months.
Georgette Ravatte, 29, spun a web of lies to the 25-year-old whom she met online.
Ravatte claimed that she was later expecting his child and demanded cash to buy her silence or she would tell his mother.
She also asked for £250 to cover her for items during an apparent week long hospital stay.
Ravatte, of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, threatened that her cousin would “go mental” and inflict violence if he did not meet her requests.
The man was eventually so frightened for his safety that he eventually called in the police.
Ravatte pleaded guilty in May last year at Glasgow Sheriff Court to extorting a total of £6,350 from the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Ravatte did not attend a string of sentencing hearings and a warrant was put out for her arrest.
She was located earlier this month and remanded in custody before she appeared in the dock on Tuesday to learn her fate.
Sheriff Louise Arrol KC said: “You have a difficult background and your attitude to this case is disturbing with your failures to attend.
“Your attitude to the social work department is disturbing and you show a lack of insight which is an understatement.
“You accept minimal responsibility.
“You have a criminal record since 2014 which continues until the present offence which were for crimes of dishonesty, breaches of court orders, violence and public disorder.
“Standing your risk assessment, criminal record and continuation of breaching court orders I am satisfied there is no other method of disposable available to me other than a custodial sentence.”
The sheriff also ordered that Ravatte be under supervision for six months upon her release from prison.
The court previously heard Ravatte met her victim on social media app Kik in 2023 and entered into a relationship in April that year.
Ravatte and the man had unprotected sex in August 2023.
She claimed days later that she felt “unwell.”
Fiscal Amanda Gallagher said: “She told him that she did not have money for a pregnancy test and also asked for cash for new jeans.”
The man blocked Ravatte but he received a voicemail from her days later.
She told him: “I think you are a coward for blocking me, I am a single mother and I am not going through this again.
“Give me money for a test or help get me a termination.”
The man received another voicemail stating: “You better send me money for a termination or a test or I will tell your mum everything.”
He then got a message from an unknown number warning him that Ravatte was going to visit his mother.
It was also chillingly stated that Ravatte knew where he lived as she followed him home one day.
Ms Gallagher said: “After this, the man sent £1,000 to Ravatte’s bank account.
“He asked her to let him know if she needed more and she said that she did want more money.
“Ravatte demanded £1,000 to buy her silence and he sent it.
“She then messaged him to say she was going to hospital for a week and needed money to purchase items so he sent her £250.”
Ravatte went on to demand even more cash and claimed her “cousin” was near the man’s home.
He took this as a “threat that someone would come to his door and threaten his family.”
Further payments were then stumped up.
Ravatte requested another £1,000 as her cousin was “about to go mental” but this time the money did not go through.
He got a sinister text from who he reckoned was Ravatte’s relative which stated: “I know who you are and your family.”
The victim was so worried he was willing to hand over more cash, but the transactions were blocked by his bank.
Ravatte told him: “I will try and hold my cousin off but if he wanted to do something I won’t be able to stop him.”
The man contacted the police as he feared for him and his family.
Ravatte refused to open the door to officers and was not arrested until a later date.
Brian McGuire, defending, told the sentencing: “I acknowledge the seriousness of the offence as does she.
“It would be ridiculous to see anything other than a custodial sentence being in your mind.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
