Tesco bomb threat man jailed for six years

Philip McHugh, of Milton Avenue, sent 76 letters threatening to bomb Tesco stores across Britain last summer.

The 52-year-old also threatened to contaminate Tesco products if they refused to comply with his demand for money.

The judge at St Albans Crown Court said McHugh was guilty of a sustained and serious effort to extort money from the chain.

McHugh, who was addicted to online gambling and had debts of £37,000, began his campaign last May with a series of letters to Tesco offices in Dundee.

In the letters McHugh threatened to contaminate food in Tesco stores unless he was paid £100,000.

When this tactic failed, he sent a series of increasingly threatening letters to the supermarket chain's headquarters in Hertfordshire.

"I hope your imagination has been running riot regarding the problems we can cause your business," he wrote.

"Here are my thoughts: actual harm to your customers due to hurtful substances introduced into your produce, BAD publicity, loss of goodwill... and LOST PROFITS!"

He went on to offer Tesco three options to resolve the situation.

Option one was to pay him £100,000.

The second option McHugh gave was for him to "arrange a demonstration" to show he was serious and then stop the campaign on payment of £200,000.

"I mean caustic soda in yoghurt would not be too nice would it?

"Imagine knowing we had tampered with the yoghurt in just one of your stores (BUT WHICH ONE!?)," he wrote.

For option three, McHugh wrote: "You ignore us. OH DEAR! OH DEAR! please use your imagination!"

McHugh went on to send hoax bomb warnings to supermarkets across the country, warning of what he called "Black Saturday".

He said bombs would go off at the stores on Saturday, July 14.

He wrote: "I'm absolutely desperate and blood will flow if you do not co-operate."

As a result, 14 Tesco superstores, including Clitheroe's Duck Street branch, were closed, costing the supermarket chain an estimated £1.4million in lost revenue.

At that time, the Lancashire Telegraph also received a letter making a threat to the Burnley store which was investigated by police, but charges were not brought in relation to that.

The stores reopened after searches of the buildings and surrounding areas.

After the bomb hoaxes, McHugh wrote to the executives of the supermarket chain demanding £200 a day, and an overall figure of £1 million.

"I'm absolutely desperate and blood will flow if you do not cooperate," he wrote.

"And I WILL destroy your business and others will pick up your customers."

McHugh, who lived with his Russian wife and her two children, set up a bank account to receive the money, but was able to withdraw only £200 a day.

At that rate it would have taken more than 13 years to withdraw the full £1 million.

He used cash machines in Whalley Road, Blackburn, Manchester Road in Burnley, two in Clitheroe, Cumbria and Bolton.

He was arrested in Clitheroe on July 23 last year after withdrawing money from the account that had been placed there as a lure.

In November last year at St Albans Crown Court he pleaded guilty to three counts of blackmail and two of carrying out a hoax bomb threat.

Passing sentence today, Judge Marie Catterson said: "Stores such as Tesco which supply the public with essential everyday goods must be protected by the law.

"This was by no means the perfect crime.

"But for all its flaws, this was a sustained and serious effort to extort a large sum of money from Tesco."

The court heard that McHugh suffered severe depression in the months leading up to his campaign, and had attempted suicide on a number of occasions.

After his arrest he told a psychiatrist who interviewed him that he saw the blackmail attempt as a "last gamble" at getting his life back on track.

His failing mental health had led to him becoming emotionally and socially isolated and increasingly detached from reality, the court heard.

Speaking after the sentence, Detective Chief Inspector Bill Jephson, of Hertfordshire Constabulary, which led the investigation, said the inquiry was a large-scale, complex and challenging operation.

"Philip McHugh was a desperate man, out of work and without any means to make money," he said.

"He didn't think twice or even care about the possible consequences of his actions. He became fixated and enjoyed the thrill of blackmailing Tesco."

David Potts, Tesco's retail and logistics director, thanked the police for their efficient handling of the investigation.

"I hope this case goes some way to reassure everybody that any threat we face is taken extremely seriously and that we have robust procedures in place to ensure public and staff safety."

McHugh pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to three specimen charges of blackmail and two specimen charges of communicating a bomb hoax.