A BLACKMAIL case involving a pub landlady, her ex-lover, her mother and a brother collapsed at the Old Bailey after a judge ordered acquittals.

David Stanbridge, 43, was accused of demanding £2,000 a month from licensee Karen Whitehead to silence him about claims she defrauded her brewery.

Miss Whitehead's mother, Carol Lill, and her half-brother Warren Lill, allegedly interfered in a police inquiry after another relative was arrested for assault at the pub. But Mr Recorder Christopher Pitchford QC directed the jury to acquit Stanbridge of blackmail and intimidating a witness. It was argued he had no case to answer.

Warren and Carol Lill, both from York, were also acquitted of intimidating witnesses - Miss Whitehead and her lover, Greg Palmer - on the judge's direction.

The trial heard unsubstantiated claims that Miss Whitehead had been fiddling the books. But an audit revealed that there were no financial irregularities.

Stanbridge, the bar manager for a time, was accused of blackmailing Miss Whitehead by demanding up to £8,000 to stop him reporting the allegations after their relationship ended.

Then last November, Miss Whitehead and her new boyfriend, Mr Palmer, were assaulted by Warren's brother, Brett Lill, at the Flying Machine pub in Biggin Hill, Kent.

Brett Lill ended up arrested and Mrs Lill was said to have repeatedly telephoned telling the couple to drop the charges against her son.

It was said Warren took part in the intimidation.

The Crown claimed Miss Whitehead was repeatedly warned she would be jailed for fraud if the charge against Brett was not dropped.

But the judge said the blackmail charge against Stanbridge hinged on a phone call he made to Miss Whitehead.

It emerged there was only talk of a "nasty visit" in the conversation while there was no cash demand.

The judge said the evidence against the trio in respect of the alleged intimidation also fell short of the standard required for the case to continue. Stanbridge told police he was paid £2,000 severance cash after his relationship with Miss Whitehead broke down. He said she agreed to give him another £4,000 "to keep quiet because she had been fiddling the pub."

Stanbridge claimed he gambled away the cash. He went on to deny making any threats to Miss Whitehead.

The Lills both denied ever telephoning Miss Whitehead in any bid to get her to drop charges.

They said they only called her through concern for her well-being.

Stanbridge, of Riggindale Road, Streatham, was acquitted on the judge's direction of blackmail and intimidating witnesses between August 1999 and January 12 this year.

Carol Lill, of Asquith Avenue, York, and Warren Lill, of Wenham Road, Foxwood, York, were similarly acquitted of intimidating witnesses between November 19 and January 12.