A NEWPORT man has been found guilty of two counts of blackmail after he sent letters in a bid to obtain £40,000.

Paul Giulletti, aged 43, of Blackwater Close, Bettws, Newport, denied sending two letters to a Gwent couple threatening to reveal alleged wrongdoing unless they gave him £40,000 on April 4 and April 25 last year.

The letters contained threats to go to the police with information he claimed he had about the couple such as scams they had allegedly been involved in.

Yesterday afternoon a jury returned a majority verdict after just one hour and a half of deliberating. They found him guilty of both offences.

Judge PK Lewis told Giulletti: "The jury has convicted you of two spiteful offences of blackmail.

"In my judgement the almost inevitable sentence to pass upon you is a significant term of imprisonment."

The court heard how former factory worker and lorry driver Giulletti sent an original letter on April 4 and then three weeks later another copy of the letter plus two more.

James Wilson, prosecuting, told the court there were two instances of Giulletti’s fingerprints on a letter and envelope and CCTV footage showed him sending the letter at Bettws post office.

In a police interview Giulletti had previously admitted to sending the “hateful” letters but his defence later claimed he falsely confessed in order to protect someone.

But earlier this week the person who Giulletti claimed he was trying to protect gave evidence and called him a “fantasist and a liar”.

Earlier this week the court heard how the woman, who along with her husband was sent the threatening letters, was left “devastated” and “a bag of nerves”.

Giving evidence, the victim said: “I was petrified and I was going out of my mind. I was physically sick and my heart was turning over whenever the postman came. I couldn’t stay in the house on my own.”

Summing up the prosecution case yesterday, Mr Wilson said: “Blackmail has been described as a nasty and vicious offence.

“It may only involve words and threats but having heard the evidence in this trial you may have heard the upset it caused and the corrosive effect it has."

David Leathley, summing up the defence case, claimed his client was a "clown" who was not sharp enough to write the blackmail letters. He said: “It seems somebody’s setting El Stupid up for a fall.”

Judge Lewis adjourned the sentencing of Giulletti until July 3 to give time for a pre-sentence report.