A man accused of blackmailing a Henley businessman told a court that a poison pen letter he wrote was the businessman's own idea.

Iran-born Ramtin Ebrihimpourkoloor, 28, is accused of threatening to tell the businessman's wife about an affair he was having unless he paid him £10,000.

But he told Oxford Crown Court yesterday that the businessman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told him to write the letter so he could scare off his mistress, whose lifestyle was proving expensive.

Mr Ebrihimpourkoloor said: "We discussed how to get rid of the girl. The discussion was that we would do a letter and when it was delivered she would think he was being blackmailed and she would leave.

"It would convince her that if she did not leave then his wife was going to find out about him seeing another girl."

Mr Ebrihimpourkoloor, whose family came to Britain in 1981 to escape revolution in Iran, admitted he was between £5,000 and £6,000 in debt at the time of the alleged offence, in January.

He denies blackmail. The case continues.

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