An attempted extortion demand of £200,000 from Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) has been described as an attempt to distract from the “paymaster behind a campaign of intimidation and criminality against its staff”.

The emails which were sent to directors of the company following the abduction and torture of Kevin Lunney have been labelled as a hoax.

Documents handed into this newspaper show a part of an email chain dated from October 1 to 3 demanding a payment of £200,000 from an unknown entity using the alias Omagh Demon.

This sender said he was being instructed by the “High Command”.

The emails are sent from an end-to-end encrypted email address which makes it virtually impossible for anyone to read the emails except the reader and the sender.

One email says that “High Command” are not interested in “revisiting the threats against Kevin Lunney and Bronagh and their entire brood”.

It adds that they do not intend to maim or kill anyone or destroy any QIH facility and that with payment “The Final Truce” will come into action.

Responses to the emails from “Omagh Demon” came from a person named “Darren” who appeared to be representing QIH. In one email “Darren” dismisses the requests by “Omagh Demon”.

Messages are then sent to the directors of QIH, including Kevin Lunney, Liam McCaffrey, Tony Lunney and Dara O’Reilly, which tell them to “close shop and ship out” as they were about to “unleash the next onslaught”.

“...there will be more long nights of sharpened knives and corrosives. Liam, Dara and Tony, you are next. In that order.”

“Omagh Demon” goes on to say: “Flesh will burn. Tears will flow. Close QIH and get the hell out. The Eagle has Landed!”

The email then orders Dara O’Reilly, financial controller to release the fund immediately within 24 hours.

It is thought there are further emails with the Irish Independent reporting on Tuesday that emails were sent directly to John McCartin on October 7 threatening to hang him from a tree as they accused him of blocking the extortion payment.

Another email was sent to Liam McCaffrey and Dara O’Reilly telling them a bomb was due to explode at 3pm at the company’s headquarters.

A spokesperson for QIH labelled the emails as a hoax and were being used as a way to distract the people behind the ongoing intimidation.

“QIH views these emails as a hoax and an attempt to distract from the paymaster behind a campaign of intimidation and criminality against its staff.

“The emails were immediately handed over to the authorities without any engagement with the emailers.”

The Garda said they do not comment on ongoing investigations while the PSNI said: “Whilst we do not comment on individual cases, we continue to work with our colleagues in An Garda Síochána to investigate the abduction and assault of Kevin Lunney.

“As part of our enquiries, we continually assess and review any incidents which we believe could be linked to the attack and the wider campaign of violence and criminality,” the spokesperson concluded.