criminal-law police court-records blackmail crime
Legality of &quot;counter-blackmailing&quot; with calling/reporting to the police
<p>Is there an exemption to the illegality of blackmailing if that blackmailing is of the sort &quot;if you don't stop blackmailing me, I will call the police&quot;?</p>
<p><strong>Why am I asking this exactly?</strong></p>
<p>A more general form of this question would be: <em>Is it legal to say &quot;if you don't stop doing that illegal thing, I will call the police&quot;, or is this illegal since it's kind of blackmail?</em> I am not asking this, as I assume it is illegal. It's blackmail.</p>
<p>So, what's different with the case at the top? Well, I believe there may be an exception to the above assumed law. Court cases are generally public; that means that, presumably, the sensitive information used by the blackmailer would also become public. If the victim cannot legally counter-blackmail with a threat of reporting the blackmailer to the police, then the victim practically has no legal way to stop the information from being released without going along with the blackmailer's demand(s)*.</p>
<p>*unless they can somehow legally remove the sensitive information from the blackmailer' possession.</p>

<p><strong>Is there an exemption to the illegality of blackmailing if that blackmailing is off the sort &quot;if you don't stop blackmailing me, I will call the police&quot;?</strong></p>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/england-and-wales" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;england-and-wales&#39;" rel="tag">england-and-wales</a></p>
<p><strong>Yes</strong></p>
<p>Blackmail is an offence contrary to <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/60/section/21?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 22</a> of the Theft Act 1968, which includes the &quot;reasonableness&quot; defence:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1)A person is guilty of blackmail if, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another, he makes any unwarranted demand with menaces; and for this purpose a demand with menaces is unwarranted unless the person making it does so in the belief—</p>
<ul>
<li><p>(a)<strong>that he has reasonable grounds for making the demand; and</strong></p>
</li>
<li><p>(b)that the use of the menaces is a proper means of reinforcing the demand.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>Telling someone to stop or you will inform the police about their criminal behaviour maybe deemed a &quot;demand with menaces&quot; but it is not &quot;unwarranted&quot; so not unreasonable in the circumstances described.</p>
<p>The same principle would apply to <em>&quot;if you don't stop doing that illegal thing, I will call the police&quot;</em></p>
