Builder 'blackmailed married lover who refused to pay for shoddy work'

The married mother of five decided to hire him to build an extension on the bungalow she shared with her husband.

The arrangement backfired, however, when she complained about the standard of Kenneth Barker's work - and refused to settle his £20,000 bill.

An enraged Barker, 62, wrote to his former lover promising to send her husband Roger compromising photos of the two of them on holiday if she did not pay up.

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He also warned Mrs Brown, a parish councillor, that he would send copies of a Valentine card she gave him to her family and friends.

News of the affair became public when Mrs Brown, who is in her 50s, called in the police, accusing Barker of blackmail.

Yesterday the builder was in court to hear details of his correspondence read to a jury.

One note read: "I did a bit of spring cleaning last week and found a couple of photos and things. I also managed to find a Valentine card.

"The photos will go down well with your so-called friends and relations very nicely. I will start with your mother and Roger."

Piers Norsworthy, prosecuting, told Truro Crown Court: "The letter was written to place pressure upon Mrs Carolyn Brown.

"Some of the work he had done had to be corrected by other contractors. Inevitably this caused some friction and a dispute arose."

He added: "Mrs Brown received the note accompanied with a bill for £ 2,780. It was aggressive, threatening and not the proper thing to do."

He told Barker, who denied blackmail: "You backed her into a corner and were forcing her to pay or suffer the consequences."

It was, " Pay the bill or your husband, mother and the community will know about the affair"."

The jury were told the letter also appeared to refer to Carolyn being in her local paper judging a village in bloom competition.

He wrote: "They will see you, instead of judging flowers, on holiday in the Scillies judging the builder - that would look nice on the front page. Need I go on?"

The jury heard Mr Barker and Mrs Brown, from Botus Fleming in Cornwall, started their affair in 2003 when she hired him to do some maintenance work on one of her properties.

In April 2006, after their relationship ended, she and her husband employed Barker to build a £20,000 extension.

Mrs Brown claimed Barker's work left her with uneven floors, doors that would not shut and a roof that

did not meet building regulations.

After a row, the court heard, Mr Barker stopped working at the property but claimed the Browns still owed him for 181 hours of labour.

Referring to Carolyn's two youngest children, aged eight and nine, he wrote: "Maybe in a few years the young ones would like to know what their mother got up to."

But when testifying, Mr Barker denied he had been threatening. He said: "I wouldn't call it a threat, I would call it persuasion.

"It was the only way to get the money - that was my last resort. I couldn't afford to write it off or I would go under."

The court heard that Barker, who was described by his defence barrister as 'inarticulate', had previously sent bills and more reasonable letters asking for the money.

Judge Graham Cottle told the jury the case rested on whether Barker thought sending the letters was a legitimate way to get his money.

After three hours, a jury agreed it was and found Mr Barker not guilty of the blackmail charge.

After the verdict he said: "I will now be pursuing the money through the small claims court and I won't be sending any more letters."

Mrs Brown, who was not in court to see her former lover walk free, was not available for comment after the case.

Her husband had been too ill to give evidence.