A 48-year-old man is facing a prison sentence after a jury convicted him of two offences of blackmail.

Carmine Singh threatened a 21-year-old woman he accused of stealing £20,000 in banknotes from a wardrobe.

The jury at Bradford Crown Court convicted him of one offence on Friday and yesterday returned an 11-1 majority verdict on the second charge.

Sentence was yesterday adjourned for the preparation of a probation service report. Singh’s barrister, Stephen Couch, said his client expected to go to jail.

Singh was remanded in custody but told he would be freed on bail to be at his dying mother’s bedside and to attend the funeral.

Singh threatened a woman she would be kidnapped, drugged and forced into prostitution if she did not return the missing £20,000 which she said she knew nothing about.

Singh, a joiner, of Leeds Road, Idle, Bradford, denied making demands with menaces at the woman’s home.

After trying to raise the cash, the terrified woman went to the police.