A MAN and a woman have appeared before York Crown Court on separate occasions, accused of a £5,000 blackmail plot.

Emily Anne Akers, 23, of Swinsty Court, Rawcliffe, and Carl Wesley Mason, 31, of Millgarth, Harcourt Street, central York, are alleged to have obtained the money from a man known only as Mr X between September 19 and September 24. Mason is also accused of assaulting Mr X.

They will next appear together at York Crown Court on December 19 and their trial has been provisionally listed for March 5 next year.

Akers was released on conditional bail at the end of a preliminary hearing yesterday. Mason was remanded in custody when he appeared for a preliminary hearing earlier this month.

A third man is currently on police bail in connection with the alleged blackmail.