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In
October 2020 Nigel Wright was sentenced to 14 years: 11 years for the plot against Tesco and 3 years to run consecutively for the road rage blackmail conviction. Detective Inspector Lucy Thompson said "Wright is a dangerous offender who gave no thought to the babies he could have harmed during his
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Julian
Christopher QC, the prosecutor, said "The truth is you were not in fear at all. You were carrying on your life normally while hoping to make yourself rich by threatening Tesco in this way while endangering the life of others in the process.".
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Nigel Wright was convicted of three charges of blackmail, two charges of contaminating food and a further charge of blackmail for demanding Ā£150,000 worth of bitcoin from a driver with whom he had a road-rage altercation.
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Bill
Jephson, the assistant chief constable in charge of the investigation for Hertfordshire police described it as "most serious and most challengingā product contamination case ever dealt with in the UK".
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Lucy
Thompson, the deputy senior investigating officer said that there was no evidence to support Wright's claims that Travellers had threatened Wright and his family to force him to carry out the plot.
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The investigation started in
Humberside where the first letters were received before being passed to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Units to investigate with the help of the
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Sentencing was scheduled for 28 September 2020. Mr
Justice Warby also asked for psychiatric reports on Wright to be prepared and warned Wright to be prepared for a "lengthy custodial sentence".
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Morven Smith had already fed a few spoonfuls of Heinz sweet and sour chicken to her ten month old baby when she found a metal fragment in the bowl and removed it. This was in
December 2019.
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Nigel Wright, 45, from
Lincolnshire was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales for blackmail after he plotted to extort Ā£1.4 million from the supermarket company.
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Nigel Wright was spotted on CCTV from a Tesco in
Lockerbie putting a tampered jar of baby food on a shelf before buying a bottle of wine, flowers for his wife and more baby food.
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Harpreet Kaur-Singh had binned a jar of Heinz Sunday chicken dinner and a jar of cheesy pasta stars after discovering metal while feeding her nine month old daughter.
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Wright admitted to planting a tampered jar in
Lockerbie but denied planting them in Rochdale. He claimed he was forced to do it because his family were threatened by
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Nigel Wright was a sheep farmer and had been the youngest ever chairman of the Great Grimsby Conservative association at the age of 29. He had won an election to the
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A series of letters and emails were sent to Tesco, threatening to contaminate baby food with salmonella, white powder and knives. They demanded Ā£1.4 million in
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and used aliases such as "Guy Brush" and "The Dairy Pirates". They claimed to be from a group of farmers angry at the low price of milk.
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126:. It was the largest blackmail investigation in the UK, at times involving more than 100 officers with 30 officers watching
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Tesco was forced to issue a product recall of 42,000 jars after the contaminated jars were found in Lockerbie and Rochdale.
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Both Morven Smith and Harpreet Kaur-Singh testified about the metal they had found in their children's food.
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429:"Tesco baby food blackmail farmer revealed as former North East Lincolnshire Councillor and Tory chairman"
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This article is about the 2018 - 2020 blackmail plot. For 2007 blackmail campaign, see
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On 25 February 2020 Nigel Wright was arrested at his family home outside
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and which led to the largest blackmail investigation in the UK.
328:"Tesco blackmail trial: farmer convicted of spiking baby food"
402:"Tesco blackmail plot: Nigel Wright contaminated baby food"
459:"Tesco blackmail plot: Nigel Wright jailed for 14 years"
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Pedigree Chum dog food and Heinz extortion campaign
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67:attempt against the British supermarket chain
45:, four counts; contaminating food, two counts
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326:Davies, Caroline (20 August 2020).
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501:2020 crimes in the United Kingdom
496:2019 crimes in the United Kingdom
491:2018 crimes in the United Kingdom
536:Extortion attempts against Tesco
427:Craig, Peter (22 August 2020).
186:North East Lincolnshire Council
34:May 2018 – February 2020
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250:2007 Tesco blackmail campaign
18:2007 Tesco blackmail campaign
521:2020s in the United Kingdom
516:2010s in the United Kingdom
240:callous pursuit of money."
188:in 2003. In 2010 he joined
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511:Attacks on supermarkets
139:Food Standards Scotland
90:Contaminated food found
147:Public Health Scotland
143:Public Health England
135:Food Standards Agency
124:National Crime Agency
153:were also involved.
61:Tesco blackmail plot
26:Tesco blackmail plot
255:Tesco bomb campaign
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130:around the clock.
465:. 12 October 2020
434:Grimsby Telegraph
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408:. 20 August 2020
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117:Investigation
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526:Adulteration
467:. Retrieved
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333:The Guardian
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170:Lincolnshire
166:Market Rasen
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53:Nigel Wright
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50:Convictions
485:Categories
469:13 October
266:References
232:Sentencing
215:Conviction
202:Travellers
506:Extortion
440:23 August
412:23 August
339:23 August
96:Lockerbie
65:extortion
43:Blackmail
463:BBC News
406:BBC News
244:See also
103:Rochdale
176:Suspect
84:bitcoin
78:Threats
63:was an
39:Charges
160:Arrest
109:Impact
531:Tesco
196:Trial
69:Tesco
471:2020
442:2020
414:2020
341:2020
190:UKIP
149:and
133:The
128:CCTV
59:The
31:Date
184:of
168:in
101:In
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