Blackmailer who conned businessman out of £600,000 is jailed for 11 years after threatening to expose his secret relationship with a male prostitute Anthony Still, 52, was branded 'evil' by a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court He blackmailed the businessman, named as 'Barnaby', for nine years Married Barnaby had met a male prostitute, then 19, to for sex in 2002 Still learned of the tryst and contacted Barnaby demanding money Father-of-three Barnaby only paid up to protect his wife and children Still was caught when police bugged a pub where he was meeting Barnaby 'Evil': Anthony Still was jailed for 11 years today for blackmailing a businessman to the tune of £600,000 after threatening to expose his affair with a male prostitute A blackmailer who conned £600,000 out of a married businessman by threatening to expose his affair with a male prostitute has been jailed for 11 years. Anthony Still, 52, took money from the father-of-three over a nine year period in return for his silence. The businessman, who was granted a lifelong anonymity order and named only as Barnaby in court, said he only kept up payments because he wanted to 'protect myself and my family from exposure' in the Press. He even had to sell stocks and shares to be able to afford the fees demanded by Still. The blackmailer was only caught when detectives bugged an Essex pub where the businessman had agreed to meet him. Still was branded a 'thoroughly, evil and heartless man' by a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court where he was jailed today after being found guilty of a single charge of blackmail. The court heard that the businessman met the male prostitute, then aged 19, in 2002 after contacting an escort agency. The pair met for sex and took drugs and 'Barnaby' even gave the teenager £2,000 to pay off a drug debt before they ended contact. Oliver Glasgow, prosecuting, said that Still learned of the relationship when the teenage prostitute's father became worried about his son's 'erratic' behaviour and asked a friend to run security checks on him through his company. Still worked for the same company as the father's friend and soon began texting Barnaby purporting to be a man named Paul Wheatley. The businessman was then phoned out of the blue in 2003 by Still claiming to be Mr Wheatley and telling him it would be in his 'best interests' to meet with him. When they met, Still demanding payment from Barnaby on behalf of the prostitute's father as he and other men had 'led the youngster astray' and money was needed to pay off drug dealers and to pay rehabilitation costs. Speaking from behind a screen, Barnaby told the court that he paid up: 'In order to protect myself and my family from exposure.' Sting: Still was only caught when detectives bugged a meeting between him and the businessman at the Balkerne gate pub in Essex last year He said he had been led by 'Paul' to believe that the teenager's dad would go to the police and the Press unless he handed money over. Over the course of the next nine years it is thought he handed over more than £600,000. He said: 'I did not keep a running account of it but I had some idea of the sum of money that I had reached.' Barnaby - who is still a director of his company which has offices across Essex and Suffolk, was forced to sell his stocks and shares in order to be able to pay the money being demanded. You are a thoroughly evil, wicked and heartless man. Judge Charles Gratwicke He said his salary and income from his investments was 'simply not enough to cover' the sums of money involved. He said: 'I did not want my family to read about - what I am extremely ashamed of having done - in the Press.' He added: 'I simply feel a bloody fool.' I know if he has asked at the first meeting for £100,000 I would have told him to go and jump - but I just wanted the problem to go away, so I agreed to give £35,000 that was demanded at the first meeting. After that it became a "drip by drip" process. I would think to myself I have already paid so much out. If I paid another £10,000, hopefully that will be it but if I don't, all the money I have already spent will essentially have been wasted.' After the blackmail started he eventually told his wife of what had been happening in 2006. Sentence: Anthony Still was jailed for 11 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, pictured The businessman eventually told his lawyers and the police what had been going on. The jury was told that a meeting at The Balkerne Gate pub in Colchester was arranged between the businessman and Still which was bugged by detectives. Once Still, of Clacton, Essex, was arrested, searches on his home were said to reveal large amounts of paperwork linking him to the businessman - including details about his family and his business. I did not want my family to read about - what I am extremely ashamed of having done - in the Press. I simply feel a bloody fool. Barnaby Sentencing Still, Judge Charles Gratwicke told him: 'Nobody listening to the overwhelming evidence as it unfolded could have felt anything other than sorrow and sadness about the way that the unfortunate man had been treated by you. Blackmail is a wicked, evil and vicious offence. 'Having discovered as you did that he was bisexual, you deliberately targeted him knowing he was vulnerable and threatened to expose him if he didn't pay. You deliberately set about obtaining large sums of money by making threating demand after threatening demand. He suffered large financial losses and your actions quite plainly caused him torture. Every time the phone rang worrying it would be you demanding money. It caused him to lose his self respect, his self confidence and he not only lost his money but his spirit too. Still, who in 1987 was jailed for six and a half years for robbery, had pleaded not guilty to the offence. He claimed he was paid between £25,000 and £30,000 by his victim to research male escort agencies. Following the sentencing, Chris McCann, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Blackmail is a despicable crime as it preys on people's fears of having made public what they want to keep secret. Paying a blackmailer is no guarantee the demands will stop - if anything the demands increase and the victim faces both the fear of exposure and keeping up the payments, as occurred in this case when £628,000 was paid. Detective Supterintendent Simon Parkes of Essex Police, added: 'The victim, who understandably wishes to remain anonymous, had been living under significant duress for many years. He has displayed great courage and trust in the police by coming forward. This trust has led to a jury delivering a guilty verdict and I hope this goes some way to encouraging those who find themselves the victim of sensitive crimes to come forward to the police.