Imagine you are in a situation where a police officer stops you to ask for your license. As you give him the document, he tells you that a mistake had been made in the spelling of ‘Kingdom’ on the license. You inform him that you will go to the driving agency as soon as possible to get it fixed the following day. However, he tells you that he can’t let you go, but if you give him some money, he will be more than happy to. You inform him that you have no money on you, but he remains persistent and even threatens to arrest you if you do not comply with his request.
The above scenario is a good example of extortion or blackmail.
To start, it is important to note that currently in English law, extortion and blackmail are treated as the same offence. On this basis, extortion will be used to refer to both scenarios.
Characteristics of extortion
- Once the demand is made, extortion has already been committed.
- Gain is interpreted as both keeping what one has as well as acquiring what an individual does not have.
- Loss on the other hand both implies not getting what one wants, and parting with what one has.