Farmer in Tesco blackmail plan facing 17 years in prison

A FARMER who contaminated baby food jars with metal as part of a £1.5 million bitcoin extortion plot is facing up to 17 years in prison after the biggest blackmail inquiry in the UK.

Nigel Wright began threatening Tesco in spring 2018, warning his local store in Lincolnshire that unless they paid him £750,000 worth of bitcoin – an online currency that would allow him to remain anonymous – he would contaminate the food on their shelves.

Under the pseudonym “Guy Brush” the 45-year-old demanded larger sums of money, telling Tesco that he would also contaminate jars with salmonella, white powder and knives. However, it became clear that Wright’s activity had escalated when a mother in Lockerbie discovered small knife fragments in the baby food she was about to give her child on Dec 13 2019.

When a nationwide recall was issued, a family in Rochdale also contacted the company saying they had thrown out two tins of baby food which had contained metal.

Yesterday, following a nine-day trial at the Old Bailey, a unanimous jury convicted Wright of three counts of blackmail against the victim companies Tesco, Heinz and Cow & Gate; and two counts of contaminating goods. Mr Justice Warby asked for a psychiatric report to be prepared ahead of Wright’s sentencing and said he faced a lengthy sentence, telling him that punishments for such offences ranged from between eight and 17 years in prison.

Following a major investigation led by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, Wright was arrested on Feb 25 2020.

£750,000 The amount in bitcoin that Nigel Wright first demanded from Tesco to stop him contaminating their food

At various points there were more than 100 officers deployed across the country on the case, and at one stage more than 30 officers watched CCTV footage on day and night shifts.

Upon his arrest, Wright told police that he had been threatened to carry out the extortion by some people who had said they would harm his family if he didn’t.

The prosecution was able to prove that there was no evidence to support Wright’s claims. Instead, police found a wealth of material which pointed to the fact that Wright had acted alone.