text: Karen Bell, 42, from Hull, has been jailed for 12 months after blackmailing a man for £55 and threatening to post videos of their sex trysts online . A mother who blackmailed a lover she met on dating website Plenty of Fish by threatening to post footage online of their sex sessions if she did not receive £55, has been jailed for 12 months. Karen Bell, 42, from Hull, East Yorkshire, met the man on the dating website and the pair exchanged flirty texts - before meeting up to act out their fantasy in which she spanked him with a pair of trainers. However, Hull Crown Court heard that after their meeting she contacted the man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – and threatened to post the footage on Facebook unless he paid her £25. She later increased the demands, claiming her son had secretly filmed their tryst and the footage was ready to publish, until she received £55. Bell has now been jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to blackmail. The court heard that the pair began chatting after meeting on free dating site Plenty of Fish and arranged to meet. The man, who was referred to in court as 'Mr A', began lending Bell money as she claimed she was short of cash. Stephen Welch, prosecuting, said: 'Some time in December last year, the complainant and the defendant engaged in sexual activity at the defendant's home address. 'The nature of it was that the complainant removed his trousers and pants and lay on his stomach while the defendant remained fully clothed. 'She spanked the victim on the bottom with a hand, then with a training shoe. 'This was some sort of sexual fantasy the two discussed before the act took place. 'A while later the defendant contacted the complainant and told him her son had installed a hidden camera and their role play had been recorded.' The couple met on free dating website Plenty Of Fish (pictured) and met up after starting up a conversation . Bell, a mother, was jailed for 12 months at Hull Crown Court (pictured) after pleading guilty to blackmail . Bell sent Mr A more messages informing him the recording had been put on a DVD and that she was 'sitting watching it with her son', the court heard. She told him that if he did not want his friends and family to see the film he should pay her and initially demanded £25. The court heard he was worried and Bell told him if he stopped paying her she would publish the DVD on local websites and on Facebook. Bell (pictured) pleaded guilty to blackmail last week . Mr Welch added: 'He was frightened. He believed the defendant would carry out those threats and didn't want his family or friends to see the footage.' Although he had willingly given her some money, he eventually reported Bell to the police and the total amount she gained by the blackmail was £55, the court was told. When Bell was arrested, she told police in an interview that she 'didn't find the victim sexually attractive but they got on well as friends.' Stephen Robinson, mitigating before Judge Paul Watson QC, said: 'The defendant moved to Hull from the Grimsby area in order to better herself and start a new life - getting into this sort of serious trouble was the last thing she expected to happen. 'She was lonely and met the complainant through a dating website and began communicating with him. 'Your honour, unfortunately it culminated in this particular offence.' Jailing Bell for 12 months, Judge Watson told her: 'The money you were demanding was not the highest amount - just £55 - but for him that was significant. 'Blackmail is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.'
target: Karen Bell met victim - who cannot be named - on dating site Plenty of Fish .
  Pair met up and acted out fantasy in which she spanked him with trainers .
  42-year-old then claimed son had filmed entire session and demanded £25 .
  Threatened to post video online unless victim paid cash which rose to £55 .