Pair accused of royal blackmail bid

Ian Strachan, 30, and Sean McGuigan, 40, are charged with blackmail contrary to S21 of the Theft Act 1968, alleging they made demands with menaces.

They are accused of trying to extract money from an undercover police officer posing as a representative of a junior royal.

The royal, who cannot be named for legal reasons, did not know the defendants and is not expected to be a witness in the case.

Strachan, of Chelsea, west London, and McGuigan, of Battersea, south London, are remanded in custody.