Man admits attempting to blackmail ex-councillor

A MAN who blackmailed a former Fianna Fáil councillor using pictures of him allegedly taking cocaine has entered a guilty plea in the middle of his trial.

Wesley Higgins, aged 33, attempted to extort €5,000 from Liam Kelly by threatening to give such pictures to a newspaper.

Higgins, of Dundaniel Road, Kilmore, Coolock, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to demanding money with menaces between August 6 and 12, 2006.