A Dragon’s Den winner has been jailed after demanding £6,000 from a former employee in return for a good reference.
When Lorraine Davies refused to pay, equestrian designer Nicola Fletcher, 49, repeatedly wrote bad references for her former friend, a court heard, leaving her unable to find work for nine months.
Fletcher raised £100,000 on the BBC show in 2015 after investment from Duncan Bannatyne and Piers Linney.
His company, Equisafety Ltd., which makes high-visibility clothing for equestrians, has worked with Olympic dressage athletes Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester.
But he wanted to “bury” his former assistant in what he later told police was “scandalous”, the court was told.
Mrs Davies sparked an employment tribunal dispute after the Badminton Horse trial over mold in her accommodation, leading to her leaving the company.
Under the terms of the out-of-court settlement, Fletcher had to pay £3,000 in costs and a further £3,000 in compensation and bonuses, with the assurance that he would provide a good reference to his former assistant.
However, when Ms Davies, a mother of two, was later offered a job at a veterinary hospital and appointed Fletcher as referee, she received a letter from her former boss saying “a reference full of lies or a reference full of really” in exchange for the liquidation price.
Known as ‘The Queen of High Visibility’, Nicola Fletcher (pictured) raised £100,000 on the BBC show in 2015 following investment from Duncan Bannatyne and Piers Linney.
His company, Equisafety Ltd., which makes high-visibility clothing for equestrians, has worked with Olympic dressage athletes Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester.
He repeatedly tried to get his former assistant Lorraine to donate (pictured).
When Mrs Davies did not respond, bosses at Liverpool University’s Leyhurst Equine Hospital withdrew the job offer after what they described as a “very personal reference” from Fletcher.
It said: “I gave him £2,000 tax free to get rid of it and it cost me £3,000 in legal fees.
“So maybe it was worth £2,000 in blackmail money and £3,000 in legal fees!!!”
Just over a month later, Mrs Davies received an email from Fletcher: ‘Sorry about the work. But I promised I would send you a true story.
Ms. Davis was rejected on at least one other job application when potential employers sought testimony from Fletcher, prosecutors said.
In a statement given at Chester Crown Court, Mrs Davies said she ultimately had to take two part-time jobs on an unreferred minimum wage. As a result, she was left so helpless that her 17-year-old son, a high school student, offered to buy Christmas gifts for the entire family.
He said: “I have never seen such cruelty and hatred in my life as Nicky Fletcher.” He called Fletcher’s “search” “relentless but very calculated.”
At Chester Crown Court, Fletcher, of Burnston, Wirral, admitted blackmail.
Simon Parry, prosecuting, said Ms Davies contacted police after the first negative reference, but this continued with her subsequent job applications. During the interview, Fletcher “acknowledged his actions but said he did not see them as blackmail,” he added.
‘He believed that he had been harmed in a labor dispute that he felt obliged to resolve.
“I hated Lauren and wanted her back.”
Mitigating Fletcher, Induni Seneviratne said the initial letter was sent “in anger” when she was overwhelmed by her father’s death. He said the business would close if his client was sent to prison.
But jailing Fletcher for two years, Judge Michael Leeming told her that Ms Davies had been deprived of a career that provided her and her family with “financial security” and that “you are entirely responsible”.
“Every aspect of his life has been affected: his health, his well-being, his confidence, his family’s emotions,” he added.
Fletcher was also banned from contacting Ms Davies.
In October, Fletcher lost a High Court copyright battle to have his high-visibility equestrian vest recognized as “art” after a rival company copied it.
A judge said that while it was “more attractive than a manufacturer’s vest,” its design did not involve enough “artistic craftsmanship” to protect it from imitators.