Man Convicted of Blackmailing Tech CEO, Stalking Daughter

Darren Cooper, 54, has been convicted of blackmailing technology firm chief executive Peter Gillingwater and stalking his daughter, Aimee Gillingwater. The charges are linked to a High Court battle over a £1.2 million home previously co-owned by Cooper's husband, sex therapist Thain Kleinhentz, and Kleinhentz's ex-partner, Mark Harrison.

Cooper was found guilty of attempting to extort money for Kleinhentz and of stalking both Peter and Aimee Gillingwater between January 2021 and July 2023. He created a newspaper-style blog that falsely accused Peter Gillingwater, 52, of drug dealing and sexual abuse. The campaign also targeted Aimee Gillingwater, 28, a model and skater, with abusive and derogatory content, including threats to her career, which allegedly caused her to lose work with Chanel.

Inner London Crown Court heard that Cooper demanded sums of £250,000, £100,000, and £80,000 to remove the defamatory blog posts and abusive messages posted on platforms including X and LinkedIn. Cooper, from Clapham in south London, denied the charges but was convicted by a jury.

The prosecutor, Jonathan Whitley, stated that Cooper's actions were "vengeful behaviour" arising from the 2020 civil court case in which Kleinhentz sought a share of the property owned by Harrison. Kleinhentz lost the case, was ordered to pay costs, and subsequently declared bankruptcy. Cooper, his husband, reportedly believed the case should have been won and blamed Mr. Gillingwater for the loss.

Mr. Gillingwater testified that the family decided to contact authorities after receiving an email that contained offensive language regarding his daughter. He also received a phone call, which he recognized as Cooper, threatening his daughter's career and upcoming performances.

Despite Cooper's admissions to creating the blogs and sending emails, he maintained he was justified and claimed he and his husband were victims of "slurs." The Gillingwater family stated that the campaign caused serious distress, with Aimee Gillingwater reporting lost modeling work and an inability to post on social media.

Cooper was granted bail at Inner London Crown Court and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 4. A restraining order has been issued, prohibiting him from contacting Peter, Aimee, and Carol Gillingwater, as well as Mark Harrison, and from posting anything about them online.