Christopher John Robinson thought he could blackmail an insurance company and get $5 million by sending emails threatening to expose them in the media.
The former Northlander, now aged 68, will now spend nine months at his Helensville property having his every move tracked while on home detention.
Justice Ailsa Duffy said Robinson's demands had "elements of grandiosity and a detachment from reality" when she sentenced him in the High Court at Whangarei yesterday.
It was revealed yesterday that Robinson, who has lived in New Zealand since 2005, had five previous convictions for blackmail when he lived in England. Those charges involved demands for money from five large London corporations in 1993. He was convicted and spent four years behind bars.
Earlier this year, a Whangarei jury found Robinson guilty of blackmailing IAG New Zealand's lawyer Chris Hlavac of the firm Young Hunter, IAG NZ chief executive Jacki Johnson, chief executive IAG Group in Australia Michael Wilkins, and general manager of State insurance, Mary-Jane Daly. Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) is the parent company of a general insurance group, with brands that include State, AMI, NZI and Lumley insurance. IAG sponsors several sports teams, including the All Blacks.