Wayne and Coleen Rooney’s Blackmailers Behind Bars

Two people accused of trying to blackmail Coleen Rooney, the wife of Manchester United football star Wayne Rooney, have been jailed.

The blackmailers - Lee Platt, 29, and Steven Malcolm, 42 - were found guilty at Manchester crown court of trying to extort £5,000, after recovering a digital camera that contained more than 400 private photos of the couple.

Platt was jailed for two years and Malcolm received 20 months. Platt's girlfriend, Jennifer Green, 26, received a 12-month community order for assisting in the retention of stolen goods.

The camera had been misplaced by Coleen during a Black Eyed Peas concert at the MEN Arena in Manchester in May 2010.

Platt and Malcolm had threatened to sell the photos, which were of family holidays, the couple's son Kai, the couple's house and some relatives, to the media if their demands were not met.

The police were contacted and they sent an undercover officer who pretended to be interested in buying the camera. Malcolm was arrested at the Marriott Hotel in Manchester, with the camera and the photographs.

Platt and his girlfriend, Jennifer Green, 26, were arrested soon after, when their fingerprints were found on the folder containing the photographs.