Two men who demanded £50,000 (NZ$126,000) from a Royal Family member in exchange for tapes featuring 'gay sex' claims have been jailed for blackmail, reports the BBC. Londoners Ian Strachan 31, and Sean McGuigan 41, were jailed for five years each for attempting to extort money from the royal, whose identity was concealed during the two-and-a-half-week-long trial. Among the claims in the recordings were that the royal, referred to as witness A, performed a sex act on his employee, witness D, at a party. The duo used the tapes to demand money from the royal after trying, unsuccessfully, to sell them to newspapers. The judge, Mr Justice Cooke, said he was sure that the men had acted together to target the royal - a victim who was "particularly susceptible". He told the court that the offence was so serious that the pair had to be jailed: "The corrosive evil of blackmail means that any sentence must have a deterrent effect."