A 'manipulative' man has been jailed for 14 years for blackmailing two young women into having sex with him.

Joshua Bromage, 30, preyed on his victims, one as young as 17, on Instagram, threatening to expose intimate images of them unless they sent him more images.

Bromage, of Holybourne Road in Havant, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday and will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.

Judge Peter Henry said Bromage had cynically manipulated his victims into complying with his demands. Bromage previously pleaded guilty to four counts of rape.

In April 2021, a 17-year-old girl in Southampton reported that she had been forced to have sex with Bromage and that she had been blackmailed over Instagram by an unknown person to send indecent images and videos.

This person was later identified as Bromage. An examination of his phone found category C indecent images of children, as well as images of the victim.

It also revealed text conversations where Bromage demanded explicit images of the victim, threatening to release intimate photos of her online if she didn't comply.

In November 2023, a 22-year-old woman, from Southampton, also came forward to police, reporting that she had been raped by Bromage and blackmailed by an unknown person, again later identified to be Bromage, via Instagram.

The 22-year-old woman told officers she had been blackmailed into sending indecent images and videos of herself, with the perpetrator threatening to release other indecent images of her if she did not meet his demands.

Bromage further manipulated the victim by telling her that he was receiving similar threats, and that the blackmailer was requesting images and videos of the two engaging in sexual acts.

Following a thorough and complex investigation, Bromage was charged with four counts of rape, which he pleaded guilty to.

Detective Constable Andrew Ferguson, who led the investigation, said: "Bromage's actions were incredibly manipulative, calculated and controlling and the impact he has had on his two young victims is immeasurable. "I hope that this sentence reassures other victims that they will be listened to when reporting incidents of this nature to the police."