A CORNISH political party has withdrawn support for its candidate in a by-election this week after discovering information about his criminal past he hadn’t shared when selected. James Casbolt was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2015 after attempting to blackmail his American heiress ex-wife out of £2-million.

Mr Casbolt had not told Mebyon Kernow (MK) – the “party for Cornwall” which seeks political devolution for the Duchy – about his jail sentence. He has been suspended from the party after members discovered he was found guilty of trying to extort the money from Haley Meijer’s family by threatening to post sexually explicit photos of her on porn sites.

Casbolt also admitted harassing British champion surfer Tassy Swallow, from St Ives, and hair stylist Simone Everett in the court case at Truro Crown Court in July 2015. He was chosen as one of two MK candidates for a Penzance Town Council by-election to be held on Thursday, August 22 for two councillor vacancies for the Newlyn and Mousehole ward.

A statement by MK said: “We have had to withdraw our support for James Casbolt because we have since become aware of information about his past that he did not share with MK at the time of his selection. As a result, he has been suspended as a member of MK and, although the ballot paper will show the MK logo and description next to his name, we can confirm he is no longer an MK candidate.

“Activists are presently delivering leaflets around Newlyn and Mousehole, clarifying that he is no longer represents MK. MK’s National Executive Committee has also agreed to undertake a review into what happened in regard to his selection and how the party can improve such processes in the future.”

Cllr Loveday Jenkin, the party’s deputy leader, said: “We weren’t given the full information. As soon as we were informed we had to suspend him and we have done everything we can to make people aware he’s not a MK candidate. The information we received was too late to withdraw him from the ballot. So he will still be on the ballot paper, but we are not endorsing him as a MK candidate.

“His sentence is completed and his licence was completed in May. He is entitled to be a candidate, but MK don’t want to associate with that.”

The law states that you can’t be a town councillor if you have been sentenced to prison for three months or more (including suspended sentences) during the five years before election day. Mr Casbolt is outside that jurisdiction, but MK felt it could not support his candidature from a moral standpoint.

He was found guilty after demanding the fortune to stop sharing the nude pictures of Haley Meijer, heiress of American hypermarket tycoon Hank Meijer, that she had taken for him while he was in the US Army. Casbolt admitted sending threatening texts and emails containing pictures of his ex as well as posting images and bizarre claims about her online.

While on bail, Casbolt sent threatening messages to two other women, Tassy Swallow and Simone Everett. Both were sent links to a fictional serial killer called Slenderman and Casbolt approached Swallow on the street. He admitted a number of offences including blackmailing Ms Meijer and harassing Swallow and Everett.