Jail for 'sex orgy' blackmail woman .sx A WOMAN who tried to blackmail the Halifax building society by threatening to expose a sex scandal was yesterday jailed for a year .sx Employee Paula Kimberley , 24 , said her revelations of orgies and blue movie sessions would rock the society to its foundations , Leeds Crown Court heard .sx She warned that if the Halifax refused to pay her pounds10,000 she would give the story to the newspapers .sx Kimberley , of Addiscombe , south London , who worked for the Halifax's property services division in the City , admitted blackmail .sx Judge Vivian Hurwitz said she had shown a strange mix of naivet*_>e or-naivety and deviousness .sx The court was told Kimberley telephoned the society's headquarters in Halifax , West Yorkshire , saying she had proof that people in its property services arm had indulged in sex orgies .sx Roger Scott , prosecuting , said the allegations turned out to be untrue .sx Kimberley contacted the head of group corporate affairs , James Murgatroyd , in October 1990 , calling herself Michelle - her middle name .sx " She said she intended to go to the media with her story .sx However , she said she would not do anything until she had given the Halifax the opportunity to make her an offer not to talk .sx " .sx The police were informed and , when she called again , Kimberley was told to speak with Graham Pepper , head of internal audit , who , several calls later , offered her pounds10,000 to keep quiet .sx Simon Gauge , for Kimberley , said she hatched the plan to get back at her superiors .sx Spurned boyfriend stabbed love rival .sx A 20-YEAR-OLD man who stabbed his love rival six times was sent to a young offenders' institution for six years yesterday .sx York Crown Court heard Lee Christian Wilstrop lured Paul Hibbard from his ex-girlfriend's house and then attacked him .sx He stabbed him repeatedly in the back - causing the collapse of both his lungs - and later told police " It was me or him " .sx Wilstrop , of Bishopthorpe Road , York , admitted wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm .sx It was the culmination of a vendetta between the two men over their triangular relationship with Donna Dawson , 22 , who had lived with them both .sx She and Mr Hibbard had been going out for five years and had two children , but it was a stormy relationship and they had split up several times , said Andrew Kershaw , prosecuting .sx Ms Dawson had a relationship with Wilstrop two years ago but returned to Mr Hibbard , while still occasionally seeing the other man .sx This led to several incidents between the two men , with Mr Hibbard alleging that Wilstrop tried to run him over and on another occasion that he hit him with a claw hammer .sx Wilstrop told police his rival had made several threats and had poured a tar-like substance over his car and slashed its tyres .sx Matters came to a head when a man called at Ms Dawson's home in Balmoral Terrace , York , claiming he had some money for Mr Hibbard .sx But when Mr Hibbard came to the door he was dragged outside to where Wilstrop was waiting , and stabbed .sx He was rushed to hospital with both lungs collapsing and a fractured rib .sx Judge John Cotton told him :sx " It was pure good chance you did not kill him .sx " .sx Stephen Twist , mitigating , said Ms Dawson had played the two men off each other .sx " Wilstrop was placed in a tormented situation .sx There was huge passion flowing in a number of directions , " he said .sx Prisoner flees from funeral .sx A PRISONER was on the run last night after stabbing two guards escorting him to his brother's funeral .sx Thomas Mullins , 37 , had been allowed out of Albany Prison on the Isle of Wight to attend the funeral in south London .sx He made his escape at the crematorium in Camberwell after asking to go to the toilet .sx Two of the three escort guards went with him , but Mullins drew a knife and attacked them .sx One guard was stabbed in the back and the other in the back and stomach .sx A Home Office spokeswoman said :sx " The first officer is believed not to be seriously injured .sx The one who was stabbed both in the back and stomach is in a stable condition in hospital and likely to be detained .sx " The name of the hospital was not revealed .sx It is thought that Mullins , who was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court in November , 1989 , to six years for possession of drugs , was passed the knife at the crematorium , the spokeswoman said .sx He was thoroughly searched before leaving Albany in a prison van , she added .sx An investigation into the escape was " already underway " .sx Scotland Yard warned the public not to approach Mullins .sx It was believed the escape was pre-planned - at least one man was waiting outside the crematorium to drive him away , a spokesman said .sx Mullins is described as 5ft 8½ins tall and of medium to stocky build .sx He has long , brown hair , tied in a pony-tail , a beard and a moustache .sx Det Supt Bill Lavers denied the escape was another blow for prison officers' credibility .sx " I don't think there is any reason for embarrassment , " he said .sx " These two blokes came out this morning to bring him to a funeral and have very nearly been killed .sx " .sx Careless farmer must pay .sx A FARMER was fined pounds250 yesterday after he admitted failing to comply with an isolation order for a cow .sx John Watson , of Brough , also admitted failing to have a tag on the cow , and was fined a further pounds25 .sx Total costs were pounds67 .sx Ed Chicken , prosecuting at Richmond for North Yorkshire trading standards department , said the cow aborted , and was placed in isolation on April 18 while tests were carried out to see if the animal had brucellosis , a disease which can be transmitted to humans .sx The cow should not have been moved until Watson was told by letter , but when the vet telephoned him on May 2 to say she wanted another blood sample , she was told the cow had been sold .sx Watson sold the cow at Darlington Market on April 29 .sx Michael Luxmoore , defending , said Watson had no experience of brucellosis isolation , and did not read the isolation order given to him by the vet .sx He assumed that because he had not heard anything in eleven days , the cow was all right .sx Mr Luxmoore said the cow had an ear tag when it was bought , but the tag must have fallen off .sx Another was placed on it before it was sold .sx Pig transport offences man fined pounds225 .sx FARMER Malcolm Metcalfe was fined pounds200 yesterday for carrying pigs in a lorry without a protective partition .sx Metcalfe , of Gilling West , near Richmond , was also fined pounds25 for moving unmarked pigs to a slaughterhouse and ordered to pay pounds38 costs .sx His lorry , containing 20 live pigs , was stopped in a routine check on its way to a bacon factory in Leeming , near Bedale , said Ed Chicken , prosecuting .sx A trading standards officer found a partition was in the lorry but was not being used .sx The pigs were not marked with a red cross required by law .sx Metcalfe did not appear and sent no plea , but in a letter said he had spent all morning digging out his farm lane after a heavy snowstorm and had no time mark sic !sx the pigs .sx He also told the trading standards officer he did not use the partition because the pigs were comfortably loaded .sx Tough action against gipsies .sx TOUGH action to clamp down on rogue gipsy encampments in County Durham has been welcomed by local councillors .sx Officers at Sedgefield District Council say they will not hesitate to act against travellers who set up home on local authority land .sx The warning follows a flood of complaints over gipsies who settled on the All Saints industrial estate , Shildon .sx Following the protests , solicitors acting on behalf of the district council sought a court order to have the illegal encampment moved on .sx That action prompted the gipsies to leave yesterday .sx Shildon councillor Walter Nunn welcomed the " get though " policy , adding :sx " This sort of thing has been a problem for years .sx It's about time we put a stop to it once and for all .sx " .sx Coun Nunn said he had received several complaints from residents fed up with the noise and nuisance caused by travellers .sx " The rubbish builds up because they don't have proper toilets and some of them earn money on the side by buying and selling scrap metal .sx " We have designated sites for gipsy families , with running water supplies and toilet facilities .sx It seems like a waste of time if they don't bother to use them .sx " .sx Council solicitor Peter Devlin said unauthorised travellers would be given a 24 hour deadline to get out before the authority began court action .sx He said :sx " If we receive a complaint then the council will act upon that information .sx If these people settle on unauthorised sites then they must accept the consequences .sx " .sx The Sedgefield district already has an authorised gipsy site at East Howle , near Ferry hill .sx Travellers can also use two sites in neighbouring Wear Valley .sx Camper dies in holiday cliff fall .sx A TEENAGER died and another is gravely ill after falling 200ft down cliffs on the Yorkshire Coast yesterday .sx Paul Drake and David Davis , both 19 , were among a group of six from Leeds camping at the Blue Dolphin holiday park between Scarborough and Filey .sx Security staff at the centre raised the alarm after youths raced for help when their friends plunged over the notorious cliffs , which have claimed several lives over the years .sx They were believed to be on their way back to their tents after a night out .sx Filey Coastguards found Mr Drake at the foot of the cliffs already dead , and Mr Davies close by with multiple head injuries .sx Fear for five in fishing tragedy .sx FIVE people were feared drowned after a 43-tonne fishing boat sank in dense fog yesterday 20 miles off the Kent coast in the English Channel .sx The body of a crew member was recovered off Ramsgate and a search was continuing for the four other missing crew .sx Dover coastguards said the cause of the tragedy was still unknown .sx But station officer Eric Musson said the 21ft Ocean Hound had been fishing in a busy shipping lane .sx " We are obviously investigating the possibility that a ship may have hit the vessel .sx " .sx Fishermen in Brixham , Devon , were " devastated " by the loss of the Ocean Hound , one of the port's largest boats .sx It was the third Devon-registered fishing boat to be lost since Christmas .sx " The skipper's son was only aboard because it was a summer trip .sx It was his summer holidays and he went to sea with his dad , " said Paul Jarrett , superintendent of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen .sx " The port is in a state of shock and filled with horror , " he said .sx " Yet another boat has been lost , yet more fishermen's lives have been lost .sx It's sickening .sx " When fishermen get hurt , the fishing community here in Brixham feels hurt .sx " It is the worst loss suffered here in Brixham for many years .sx " The ship's owner , Philip Bowditch , is totally devastated .sx " .sx The ship's skipper Alan Nicholson , 40 , and son James , 17 , lived in Paignton , Devon .sx Father saves teenager trapped in school fire .sx A FATHER last night smashed a window in a desperate bid to rescue a teenager trapped inside a blazing school .sx The man , who does not want to be named , used an onlooker's jumper round his hand to break the glass at Darlington's Whinfield Infant School .sx He sprang into action after a youngster who spotted flames and smoke raised the alarm .sx The 22-year-old man , a machinist who lives in nearby Augusta Close , discovered the teenager struggling to escape through a classroom window .sx The boy then ran through smoke to the other end of the building , where his rescuer had managed to break the window .sx The youth was taken to hospital for cuts and burns to his hands and was later discharged .sx Six firemen wearing breathing apparatus were among the crew which tackled the blaze , thought to have been underway for about half an hour before their arrival .sx