Loan shark who targeted women is jailed for two years

A violent loan shark who grabbed a heavily pregnant woman round the throat and threatened to beat clients up and burn down their homes was jailed for two years yesterday after admitting blackmail and illegal money lending.

Kim Cornfield, 52, and his wife Lynne, 43, who received a 12-month community rehabilitation order, targeted dozens of vulnerable single mothers in the Churchill area of Redditch, Worcestershire.

They lent relatively small amounts of cash - £50 to £5,000 - but charged extortionate interest rates, in one case 15,000%. They did not appear to live in luxury, but sources close to the case said a lot of their money went toward sexual entertainment and they led a very active "swingers" lifestyle.

Their weekly debt collecting visits were accompanied by threats and intimidation, and huge rises in interest if debtors missed payments. The judge at Worcester crown court, who also heard how Cornfield demanded sexual favours as "payment in kind" from female debtors, described his activities as "disgusting" and "abhorrent".

One in five UK borrowers is refused mainstream credit, forcing many to turn to the hundreds of illegal money lenders who prey on the poor and vulnerable, the disabled, the mentally ill, drug addicts and alcoholics, offering tiny loans that soon spiral into debts of thousands of pounds.

Only a handful of cases get to court because witnesses are often too scared to testify.

The Department of Trade and Industry is carrying out a nationwide study to map the extent of loan sharking, and already has pilot units in Glasgow and Birmingham to try to stamp it out, the latter of which investigated the Cornfields. The units are each currently investigating more than 50 suspected loan sharks.

Jacqui Kennedy, who headed the Cornfield inquiry, said: "They made their clients' lives a misery. Kim Cornfield made all manner of threats and he was physically abusive.

"He sent threatening text messages, for instance 'U'll be sorry you messed with me' and 'Ur going to have the crap beaten out of u', and on one occasion he grabbed a heavily pregnant woman round the throat and shoved her up against the wall outside her flat. He would also demand 'payment in kind' if women could not meet their payments."

Ms Kennedy's team began to probe the Cornfields after calls to a 24-hour telephone helpline in August 2004. A lengthy surveillance operation garnered enough evidence to bring charges.

"Over two years Kim Cornfield had about 75 clients, to whom he lent out £18,000 from which he was anticipating a £70,000 return," she said. "His wife also acted as an enforcer, collecting debts, and at one stage, when he was in jail for assault, she kept the business going herself."

The Cornfields' illegal lending activities were traced back to December 2002, but they may have been operating for longer. "It's the sort of business that takes time to establish through word of mouth," said Ms Kennedy. "Cornfield could have got longer, but we are glad he got a custodial sentence and we hope this will encourage more victims of loan sharks to seek help."

Unusually, many of the Cornfields' victims were willing to testify against them, but the couple pleaded guilty.

Two other loan sharks have been jailed in the past few years: Michael Browne, 39, from Paisley, got seven years for slashing a woman 20 times in the face because her boyfriend owed him money, and Mark "Arnie" Johnson, from Birmingham, got three years and nine months for bullying elderly and disabled people. It was alleged Johnson dangled a man by his legs from a balcony, but no one would testify. Johnson hanged himself in prison last year, just before a Proceeds of Crime hearing to recover £500,000 from him, but investigators say they are still pursuing the claim.