A former teacher who posed as a female to threaten two young women into sex has been jailed for eight years.

James Donoghue pretended to be called Debzie while insisting he would expose intimate footage of each of the victims.

The sinister 36-year-old even hacked into the computer of one his targets during the terrifying sextortion plot.

It was Donoghue's own girlfriend who helped catch him and he confessed what he had done.

The couple had latterly been living in Japan both working as English language teachers.

First offender Donoghue had to be extradited from the Far East and hauled back to Scotland to face justice.

He was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow for what was described as "predatory and despicable" conduct.

Donoghue - a electrical engineering graduate - had previously pleaded guilty during a trial in Paisley to two charges of extorting both women for sex.

It emerged each victim was left traumatised - one tried to take her own life while the other described being "very frightened" of Donoghue.

Prosecutor Angela Gray told how he was known to have posed as Debzie and other women online.

Ms Gray stated: "These females never existed. They were simply a means to communicate with and, later, manipulate women.

"He created fake Facebook profiles under the name Debzie as well as using a variety of mobile phone numbers and email addresses."

Donoghue, now of Royston, Glasgow, met the first victim in 2007. She was a 17-year-old university student at the time.

They went on to have consensual sex which Donoghue recorded without her knowledge.

Around 2009, he told the young woman he had a friend called Debzie who was moving to Glasgow from Carlisle.

He claimed she did not know anyone in Scotland.

The kind-hearted victim suggested Debzie could get in touch with her.

Ms Gray said: "She never met or asked to meet Debzie in person and never had a conversation with her over the phone.

"All communication was by text or online."

Donoghue later moved to England, but the victim continued contact with him and who she believed was Debzie.

In September 2013, Debzie told the young woman she had "covert recordings" of her and Donoghue previously having sex.

Debzie claimed it had been "captured" just in case "things went bad".

Ms Gray stated: "The victim was confused and upset asking - over a number of messages - to get rid of the videos.

"Debzie instructed her not to tell Donoghue about the videos and to maintain the relationship as it had been before.

"If she complied, the videos would be destroyed."

Debzie ordered the victim to contact Donoghue to arrange to meet for sex or the footage would be "distributed".

Ms Gray stated: "She was terrified that Debzie would carry out the threat and, as a result, she did what she was told to do."

The court heard the victim suspected Donoghue was Debzie but felt "trapped" and "unable to confront him".

She went on to meet Donoghue on four occasions in 2013 and 2014 mainly at hotels across Renfrewshire.

At one stage, the victim protested to Debzie: "I've been struggling with severe depression and I am having bother being alive."

The young women begged for her ordeal to stop.

She stated: "You are a blackmailing b*****d. I hate you. 

"What will finally put the nail in my coffin? I hope you are happy the pain you cause.

"Being forced into sleeping with someone is horrific."

In April 2014, the victim further told Debzie: "Leave me alone. I tried to kill myself because of you."

The young woman eventually said she had suffered enough, but Debzie chillingly stated there were "lot of things" to punish her.

Police were alerted and it eventually led to Donoghue's computers and phones being seized.

This resulted in secret footage of the second victim being discovered.

The court heard he got to know this young woman in 2009 when she was an 18-year-old student.

She was also in contact with Debzie after being told a similar lie.

In late 2010, the victim was messaging her boyfriend online when she believed her computer had been hacked.

Ms Gray said: "She was aware Donoghue had knowledge of computers and contacted him for assistance.

"He agreed to help but indicated that he would need remote access to her laptop. She trusted him to help her."

Instead, Donoghue took advantage and sent an anonymous email to the victim's boyfriend claiming she had cheated on him.

The worried woman again contacted Donoghue for help and instead he told her to get in touch with Debzie for "assistance".

In a bizarre twist, Debzie suggested Donoghue was behind the email.

Debzie claimed she would check Donoghue's "servers" while the victim was to go to a hotel to "distract" him by having sex.

The woman insisted, however, she was not interested.

But the court heard Debzie became more "aggressive" and threatened to lie to the victim's boyfriend she had been unfaithful.

Similar to the other woman, she felt she had "no choice" but to agree to the sick orders.

This ended up in her having sex with Donoghue in 2012 and 2013 at two hotels in Glasgow and in a university laboratory.

This also included "further threats" by Debzie during this time.

Ms Gray said Donoghue's partner eventually had "worked out he was pretending to be a female named Debzie".

The advocate depute stated: "She sent [this woman] clips of covert footage recorded by Donoghue of [the victim] in a hotel room with him.

"The partner also explained she had confronted Donoghue and that he had admitted posing as Debzie."

The partner was also in touch with the other woman, who found it "hard to understand" Debzie did not exist.

It was in August 2019 Donoghue first appeared in the dock having been brought back from Japan.

His lawyer, Ximena Vengoechea, today said: "When he looks back on what he did, he is horrified at his conduct."

Judge Andrew Cubie said he found that "hard to reconcile" with a pre-sentencing report which had Donoghue "focusing on his own feelings".

Sentencing, the judge also ordered Donoghue to be supervised for a further two years on his release.

He told him: "This was predatory, selfish in the extreme and despicable."

Donoghue was put on the sex offenders’ list indefinitely.