An Australian investment banker who strapped a fake bomb around the neck of a schoolgirl in a bid to extort money from her wealthy family has been jailed for 13 and half years.

Paul Peters broke into the Sydney home of Madeleine Pulver, before attaching a bomb collar to her neck and leaving a note demanding money. It took police and a bomb squad 10 hours to discover the device was faulty and unattached it from the then 18 year old.

Fleeing to the United States, Mr Peters was arrested at the home of his ex-wife in Louisville, Kentucky. Judge Peter Zahra said that the teenager had been put through 'unimaginable' terror.

Speaking outside the court Ms Pulver said she was satisfied with the sentence.

"I am pleased with today's outcome and that I can now look to a future without Paul Peters' name being linked to mine. I realise it is going to take quite some time to come to terms with what happened, but today was important because now the legal process is over."

Victim's father, Bill Pulver, said the whole family wanted to put the ordeal behind them.

"We feel a great sense of relief and the judge, I think, made him accountable today for behaviour which is simply not acceptable in our community."

52 year old Peters was believed to have at the time been suffering psychiatric problems after the breakdown of his marriage and loss of custody over his children. Prosecutors had described the case as an act of "urban terrorism" fuelled by financial greed.

Written and presented by Alfred Joyner