A sex therapist's husband blackmailed a tech boss and stalked his model daughter in a row over a £1.2million home.

Darren Cooper started an abusive and 'vengeful' blog after his husband lost a High Court case against an ex partner.

Cooper, 54, blamed technology firm boss Peter Gillingwater, 52, for the court defeat after he gave evidence on behalf of the seller of the home. 

Cooper went on to falsley accuse him of drug dealing and sexual abuse after he appeared in the witness box.

He also made allegations against his daughter Aimee Gillingwater, a model and skater, causing her to lose work with Chanel, it was said.

Cooper then demanded sums of £250,000, £100,000 and £80,000 to close down the blog and delete the abusive posts.

He targeted Mr Gillingwater after he gave evidence at a 2020 High Court case over a home his sex therapist husband Thain Kleinhentz once shared with former partner Mark Harrison. 

Kleinhentz lost a claim for a £250,000 share of the home in Barons Court, west London, after Mr Harrison sold it for £1.2million.

Cooper, from Clapham in south London, has now been found guilty of attempting to blackmail Mr Gillingwater and stalking him and his daughter between January 1, 2021 and July 19, 2023. 

He was due to be sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Monday but Colin Whitshaw, defending Cooper, asked for an adjournment for reports to be prepared.

The defendant appeared in court wearing a blue suit and was granted bail ahead of sentencing on December 4.

Mr Gillingwater and his daughter Aimee attended the hearing on Monday.

Jonathan Whitley, prosecutor in the case against Cooper, said: 'He repeatedly posted abusive and derogatory material online about them and demanded £80,000 and then larger sums of £100,000 and £250,000 to remove the material.

'This is vengeful behaviour that arises from a civil court case in 2020 when Mr Kleinhentz said he was entitled to a share of the property owned by Mr Harrison.

'Mr Kleinhentz lost with an order for costs against him and he declared bankruptcy.

'This defendant is his husband and believes he should have won the case and blames the complainant for losing.

'Cooper admits posting the material and sending emails to the family and company board members and says he was justified in doing that.'

Mr Gillingwater told jurors his family took the decision to go to authorities after receiving an email that referred to the 'gang bang' of his daughter.

He also received a phone call, targeting his daughter's upcoming show. 

He said: 'I recognised it as Darren. He said he was going to destroy her again and this was a threat to her and her gig.'

Mr Gillingwater had already received a demand for £100,000 for the blog's removal from Cooper, one of three separate payment demands for different amounts.

He said: 'It was another attempt to solicit payment to see if we were prepared to pay for the content to disappear. We did not respond as we thought he was getting desperate.'

Another email from Cooper threatened to go to the national press with his allegations.

The campaign did result in the chief executive leaving a board associated with one large blue chip company and distancing himself from a charity, where he was a mentor.

Mr Gillingwater told the trial: 'It worried me that my reputation would be ruined by these allegations.'

Cooper had created a blog that described Mr Gillingwater in the headline as a 'paedo', adding that he 'lies in court about previous sexual abuse allegations'.

Cooper also wrote about 'lies exposed' regarding the tech boss, accusing him of drug dealing and addiction, child pornography, cocaine supply and making false accusations.

Prosecutor Mr Whitley said: 'The blog posts were sent to the family and others, including board members of the man's company to denigrate his reputation and the rest of his family.'

Cooper also sent messages to the business leader's model daughter, including: 'OMG. I saw on twitter your dad raped you, b******.'

He also threatened to damage her career by writing she was involved in child pornography available on the dark web.

Mr Whitley said: 'This campaign has caused serious distress to the family and the daughter says she has lost modelling work and has been unable to post on social media.'

Cooper and Mr Kleinhentz were both arrested, but police charged only the defendant, who admitted in a statement creating the blogs and emailing the family.

Cooper told officers both he and his husband were the victims of 'slurs' and he was simply 'trying to shine a light on abuse', complaining his husband did not receive justice at the High Court.

The couple are believed to no longer be together. 

Cooper has been bailed until November 27.