A man who contaminated adult and baby food in Germany has been sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison for attempted murder and extortion.
The 54-year-old admitted placing poisoned jars of food in supermarkets and blackmailing retailers by offering to identify items, local media report. He targeted retailers in the southern city of Friedrichshafen last year.
The food contained enough ethylene glycol, an odourless toxic liquid, to kill a child, prosecutors said. The toxin was found in several of the products, enough to find him guilty of five counts of attempted murder, Germany’s Deutsche Welle reported.
The toxin used in the contamination,of the food is an antifreeze substance that has a sweet taste and is known to attract children and animals.
As he appeared at the court in the town of Ravensburg on Tuesday, the man admitted sending threatening emails warning that food would be poisoned throughout Europe unless he received almost €12m ($13m; £10m).
His lawyer, however denied the attempted murder charges. He claimed the man had a borderline personality disorder and said that he had consumed alcohol and painkillers at the time of his actions. The court rejected this after a psychiatrist concluded that he was well enough to be held liable for the crimes he committed.
The defendant has been given a week to appeal against the court’s decision.
BBC News
