Couple jailed for £1.9m frauds in 'Irish terror' caseCouple jailed for £1.9m frauds in 'Irish terror' case

Dennis and Bianca McGinley, who have no fixed address but are from the travelling community in the Taunton area of Somerset, targeted the farmer along with four other victims from Staffordshire and Avon and Somerset.

In total, their frauds between March 2006 and March 2009 amounted to 1.9m.

McGinley, 30, was yesterday sentenced to eight years and his 25-year-old wife, maiden name Broadway, was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Sentencing them, Judge Rodney Grant said the offences had been carefully planned and "ruthlessly carried out", and he added their actions had "ruined lives".

He praised officers from North Yorkshire Police and other forces who had worked on the case.

The farmer's money paid for a number of luxury cars, including a Lamborghini, and in another case a man was left bankrupt.

Earlier the court was told the farmer, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been persuaded to lend money to an Irishman called Mr Wilson. Later, in January 2008, another man, McGinley, posing as a man called Paul Quinn, got in touch.

Leeds Crown Court was told that victims co-operated because they were threatened and feared they had become embroiled in a world involving drugs and the IRA

Andrew Dallas, prosecuting, said the McGinleys mainly targeted members of the farming and business community.

Cash or bank transfers for the purchase of vehicles were demanded and the victims, faced with threats including knee-capping, were reluctant to speak to the police.

A father and son in a family business in Staffordshire did not speak to each other of the problem, believing the family to be under direct threat if they spoke. They parted with money and vehicles valued at about 800,000.

McGinley had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, blackmail and money laundering and his wife admitted conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

Richard Simons, representing McGinley, said earlier in mitigation that none of the threats of violence had been carried out.

Kieran Galvin, representing McGinley's wife, stressed that she was of previous good character and had pleaded guilty.