Woman charged over Australia fruit needle scare

A WOMAN has been charged after a “complex” investigation into an Australian strawberry scare where needles were found stuck into the fruit, police said yesterday, in a crisis that sparked nationwide panic.

Queensland state authorities offered a large reward and the national government raised jail terms for such crimes after sewing needles were found in plastic boxes of the fruit sold in supermarkets in September.

Since the first case came to light when a man was taken to hospital with stomach pains after consuming strawberries, more than 100 alleged incidents of pins and needles found in fruit, mostly strawberries, were reported in September.

One case was also reported in neighboring New Zealand.

Police said a 50-year-old woman was arrested and charged yesterday with seven counts of contaminating goods “following a complex... and extensive investigation.”

“This is a major and unprecedented police investigation with a lot of complexities involved,” Superintendent Jon Wacker said in a statement. “The Queensland Police Service has allocated a significant amount of resources to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.”

She faces up to 10 years’ jail and is due in a Brisbane court today. Police did not reveal the reasons and motives behind her alleged involvement.

The sabotage crisis led supermarkets to pull the fruit from the shelves and saw farmers dump tons of the unwanted berries. The government raised the maximum jail term for fruit tampering from 10 to 15 years.

Queensland Strawberry Growers Association spokesperson Jennifer Rowling welcomed the news and said the crisis had a “crippling impact” on the state’s strawberry growers.

“However, it is disconcerting that the charges relate to only six or seven punnets (plastic boxes) of strawberries, proving that the majority of... incidents were copycats or false reports,” she told ABC television.