A woman threatened to burn down an elderly care home, a court heard.

Yvonne Bates, of Epping Close, Clacton, sent a string of anonymous letters to the manager of the town's Canters Meadow.

And in a letter to Clacton police she vowed to make the Ramsden Close premises "go boom".

Bates, who worked in the homes' kitchen, plagued her boss, Susan Snell, with a series of letters and threatened to divulge her sexuality to the public unless she handed over £4,000, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

The court was told the manager is a happily married heterosexual.

That letter - which like the others was written using childlike language - was received on October 6 1998. Two others arrived on October 10 and 13, repeating the demand for cash.

On November 10 1998 three more letters arrived by post, two for Mrs Snell and one for another member of staff.

Hugh Vass, prosecuting, said Bates used newspaper and magazine cuttings to spell out "you'd better pay or be dead" and demanded £40,000.

He added: "All the letters were handed to police and forensic experts decided they had been written by the same person."

On November 13 a letter was sent to Clacton police, stating: "You have to get down there or it will go boom and a lot of people will be dead."

Officers went to Bates' home and a writing pad, stamps and envelopes were found hidden under a cushion.

Bates admitted charges of blackmail, harassment and threatening to damage property when she appeared in court for sentence on Friday.

Samantha Leigh, mitigating, said Bates - who told police she had not sent the letters - had tried to kill herself and suffered from a personality disorder.

She added: "She is not sectionable but at worst is a pest to society. Although these are serious offences you have to question whether they would ever be carried out."

Judge Peter Dedman gave Bates a nine-month suspended prison sentence and said she would be imprisoned if she re-offended within two years.

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