A horse dealer who paid £3,000 to a blackmailer is to get his money back after he was stripped of his ill-gotten assets.
Terrence McGinley, 31, terrified his victims into paying large sums of cash by claiming to be a top IRA man who could have them shot if they did not comply with his demands.
He targeted two horse dealers in the Westcountry. A 54-year-old farmer from Liskeard paid up but the other, a 75-year-old from West Somerset, went to the police.
McGinley worked with Exmoor smallholder Joseph Beach, who identified his victims for him and took part in an elaborate charade to back up his implausible story.
Irish traveller McGinley was jailed for four and a half years at Exeter Crown Court in March after he admitted conspiracy to blackmail.
He returned to the same court where Judge Erik Salomonsen approved an order under the Proceeds of Crime Act that he forfeit the £9,525.14 in his bank account, which represents his entire available assets.
The judge ordered that £2,408.74 of the money be repaid to the Cornish victim who had paid him the money.
He told McGinley to pay over the cash within 28 days or face six months more in jail. However, this is a formality because the money is already in police hands.
He said: "He is still serving his sentence. He may be somewhat rueful, given the amount of money in his account and the length of his sentence. I am happy to improve this order."
Nigel Wraith, prosecuting, said it had been agreed that his benefit from crime was £109,137.95 but the available amount is only the £9,525.14 in his bank account.
Edward Bailey, defending, said McGinley had agreed the terms of the order.
McGinley is a member of a notorious Irish traveller family from Somerset and his older brother is already serving an eight year term for a series of identical blackmails which netted him £1 million.
He fled the country after being released on police bail and was only arrested when he returned more than a year later.
He admitted conspiracy to blackmail and was jailed for four and a half years by Recorder Mr Jonathan Fuller, QC, at Exeter Crown Court earlier this year.
Beach, from Sidcot, Winscombe, Somerset, was jailed for two and a half years after being found guilty of the same offence by a jury last year.
The two victims of McGinley's plot were both horse dealers, one living near Liskeard and the other near Weston-super-Mare.
McGinley posed as an IRA terrorist named Paul Maguire and claimed to be owed money by both men, which was wholly untrue. He made his threats by phone and through Beach.
The first victim handed over £3,000 in car park of Morrisons in Weston-super-Mare but went to the police when McGinley demanded another £9,000. The second victim was asked for £5,000 but reported it rather than payiing.
McGinley's brother Dennis, 32, was jailed for eight years in 2010 for a series of identical blackmails which netted £1 million.
Dennis McGinley and his wife Bianca, 27, bought Lamboughinis and top of the range Porsches with the money they extorted from farmers all over Britain.
