Fraudster, who took $40,000 from a pensioner, abused prison officer and will remain behind bars

Andy Halliday was jailed for nearly three years for blackmail. Photo / Rob Kidd, File

A man who blackmailed a Dunedin pensioner out of $40,000 will remain behind bars until at least February next year.

Andy Junior Halliday, 29, came before the Parole Board recently, which heard he had been transferred to Otago Corrections Facility’s high-security wing following an incident with prison staff.

“He told us today there was a problem with an officer, he overreacted and abused the officer,” panel convener Mary More said in the board’s written decision.

Having not completed any treatment since he was jailed for two years and 11 months in December, Halliday was declined parole.

The court at sentencing heard the victim met a woman, who called herself “Audrey”, on a matchmaking website and he gave her various sums of money while she kept him engaged with promises of sex.

After two years, though, the man became reluctant to continue the arrangement.

During a phone conversation between Audrey and the victim, Halliday intervened and told the man they were moving to Christchurch and needed money.

Keen to distance himself from the couple, the man obliged, but it did not mark an end to the contact.

Just two days later, Halliday called him directly, demanding $2000 and threatening to disclose the arrangement with Audrey to the man’s wife if he refused.

The cash was transferred and there were four further payments over the next month, the court heard at sentencing.

Halliday upped the ante when he told the victim Audrey had destroyed his cannabis crop, that he was a gang prospect, and his brother was the boss of a prominent motorcycle gang.

If he did not pay another $2000, gang members would steal his vehicle, the defendant said.

Just weeks later, Halliday sent a message which prompted the victim to finally speak to police.

“I just went to your house, no one answered the door? ... I want $1500 today... no ifs or buts are to be given IV (sic) been given your number and address to sort this out once and for all,” the defendant wrote.

Halliday was unrepentant when interviewed later, calling the victim “a dirty old man”.

As well as the blackmail, he was also convicted of several dishonesty offences after he fled Dunedin for Nelson in a neighbour’s car while on bail, using her bank card while on the run.

The Parole Board heard Halliday had a criminal history spanning six pages which featured violence, burglaries, fraud, driving crimes and breaches of sentence.

The prisoner was wait-listed for the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme and the Dependency Treatment Programme while behind bars.

His sentence expires in May 2025.