A MAN accused of sending poison-filled vodka bottles to public figures has admitted typing the address labels and purchasing the alcohol for a friend.

Wayne Cook, 45, said he had "no idea" what the parcels, one of which was sent to Blackburn councillor John Wright, were intended for.

He said his friend and neighbour Steven Robinson, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, asked him to type the labels as he couldn't read or write.

Cook, of Robert Street, Tyldesley, has denied two counts of using noxious substances or things to cause harm and intimidate, under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001.

The unemployed father-of-three is accused of sending two miniature bottles of vodka filled with caustic soda to Blackburn and Darwen Councillor John Wright and Scottish journalist Myra Philp of April 25, 2007 as part of a terrorist plot to force the British Government out of Scotland.

Manchester Crown Court earlier heard how the caustic soda was sufficiently concentrated to have killed the recipient if they had drunk it. The bottle sent to Councillor Wright was intercepted by post office sorting office staff who became suspicious.

Cook told the court that he had been to the supermarket with Robinson to purchase two small bottles of vodka. The court heard how Robinson, who lived next door, went to Cook's flat with a second-hand typewriter and asked him to type two addresses on to labels, which he dictated.

He told the court that he was asked to type the labels in capital letters and said: "He wanted it all doing in capital letters. I said you don't normally do it in capital letters, but that's what he wanted, so I thought fair enough, and just did it."

Cook said he grew suspicious' and thought something was dodgy when he came back from the kitchen to see Robinson stuffing two bottles into separate padded envelopes. Asked by Andrew Nuttall, defending, why he didn't challenge Robinson about what he was doing, he said he felt intimidated by him and it was none of his business.' Jurors then heard that when Cook packed away the typewriter he discovered a plastic pot of caustic soda and superglue in the bag.

He said he had no idea what Robinson was doing, but felt it was something dodgy' and asked him to remove the typewriter and bag from his flat.

Cook told the court how the next day they saw a TV news bulletin about the case and he became 'frightened' and fled to Blackburn where he was eventually arrested.

The court heard that Cook was nicknamed Rooftop after he was caught throwing slates from his roof following the death of his 13-year-old son Shane who was killed in a car accident by a disqualified driver in 2003.

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