Lawyer Who Left Woman Suicidal After Sending Video Of Them Having Sex To Her Colleagues Avoids Jail

A 38-year-old lawyer left a woman feeling suicidal after he sent a footage of them having sex to her colleagues. But he has avoided prison.

David West, of Hayle, Cornwall, got access to the video when he submitted a digital access request. He had claimed that he was preparing for a defamation case, reported Daily Mail. The senior litigation consultant received the file in one of thousands of emails. Then he sent the video back to generic inboxes at her workplaces. He did so knowing multiple people would be able to see it.

At Truro Crown Court, he recently admitted to sending a malicious communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety. Prosecuting, Nigel Wraith told the court that the victim, a businesswoman, had been communicating with West via her official email. In subsequent emails, West threatened to "retaliate in epic proportions" to claims that he had been branded "a thief." He then submitted a digital subject access request (DSAR) to the woman's business. It means that it was required to send any data it held about him, including any emails that they had exchanged.

Thousands of emails were sent to him. One private email showed West and the victim engaging in an intimate sex act. In the email, the lawyer had falsely stated to the woman that he did not want any sex photos of her. But he attached the video to it saying that she could add it "to your collection." After getting the video, West sent it back as an attachment to a generic company email inbox at her firm. He knew it would be seen by others.

Wraith said that when she got the email saying "what had happened she was mortified others may have seen it." He said that the embarrassed victim went to the police station. Later, West sent a second digital subject access request to an international firm the woman worked for. Again, he knew the email had the sex video attached and would be seen by her bosses.

In a victim impact statement, the woman cried as she said that West "did what he said he would, publicly humiliate me. I’ve never been so humiliated." She said that she "became suicidal, could not face people, felt sick, couldn’t sleep and was constantly anxious." She also shared details of the catastrophic financial effect it had on her business. She said that she and her daughter were almost made homeless.

West was sentenced to 57 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, and was ordered to pay his victim 2,000 pounds ($2,245.44) compensation and 1,000 pounds ($1,122.72) in court costs. In addition, a five-year restraining order was made. It bans him from contacting the woman.

West was at low risk of reoffending, and the offence was in 2018. He had no relevant previous convictions. He was formally acquitted of disclosing a private sexual picture or film without the victim's consent, according to The New York Daily Paper.