Exposed: Bodybuilder who admitted £52k extortion plot and threats to kill

Gareth McGlinchey’s admission came during a Rooney hearing, where a judge gives an indication of the likely sentence a defendant will get if they confess their guilt.

It was then the 44-year-old admitted all six charges against him committed in one day back in September 2020.

They include blackmail by making a demand “with menaces” for £52,000, common assault and threats to kill. One was making a threat to destroy a Portrush seaside restaurant.

Although none of the facts surrounding the charges have been heard in open court, it’s clear from the particulars of the charges that McGlinchey, from Summer Meadows in Derry, demanded the huge amount, assaulted the restaurant owners, threatened to kill them and destroy their business.

At Antrim Crown Court the judge adjourned passing sentence until the end of June and freed McGlinchey on bail while probation completes a pre-sentence report.

It’s not his first time stood in the dock: in February 2021 McGlinchey pleaded guilty to 20 charges of possession with intent to supply various drugs including Viagra and steroids.

McGlinchey had claimed that the 3,000 Viagra pills he was caught with were for his personal use. He was scooped when the Royal Mail depot in Derry spotted a suspicious package for McGlinchey.

In addition, cops seized a notebook detailing his clients, their steroid dosages and strengths and a phone with text messages, which further bolstered the case against him.

Imposing an 18-month jail term but suspending it for two years, the judge at the time said: “It would appear that steroid use is widespread in (bodybuilding) and although the defendant first said all of the substances were for his personal use, it soon became clear that this was not the case.”