Three jailed for poison conspiracy

Related tags Bulmer Cider

By MA reporter A cider company director who masterminded a "wicked" plot to contaminate a rival firm's production line was last week jailed for 18...

By MA reporter A cider company director who masterminded a "wicked" plot to contaminate a rival firm's production line was last week jailed for 18 months. Michael Hancocks, 64, attempted to contaminate bottles of Bulmer's cider, including White Lighting and Strongbow, after losing a major contract to his rival. He hired chemist Richard Gay, 50, to produce a yeast-based bacteria and Paul Harris, 41, to recruit a Bulmer's factory worker to administer it. The contaminant would cause "snowflakes" in the cider and leave consumers suffering nausea and diarrhoea. But the plot collapsed when Bulmer's employee Russell Jordan backed out at the last minute and called police. Hancocks, from Hereford, was jailed for 18 months after admitting a charge of conspiracy to defraud at an earlier hearing. Paul Harris, of Hereford, was jailed for 15 months after admitting conspiracy to contaminate the Bulmer's products with intent to cause economic loss. Gay, of Tysley, Birmingham, was given an 18-month sentence after admitting possessing articles with a view to causing an offence. Sentencing at Bristol Crown Court, Judge John Foley told Hancocks: "This was a wicked and evil agreement." Hancocks was a major shareholder of Aston Manor Brewery in Birmingham, a fierce rival to Bulmer's, which has a factory 60 miles away in Hereford. There was long-running animosity between the two firms which came to a head in summer 2001 when both bid for a lucrative contract with Booker's Cash and Carry. Bulmer's walked away with the most profitable part of the contract ­ leaving Aston Manor Brewery on its knees. Hancocks approached Harris to implement his scheme and act as his middle-man. The pair then approached Gay, a former chemist at Aston Manor who had been sacked for poor time-keeping and a drink problem, to create the contaminant. Harris, a hygiene operator at Sun Valley Foods in Hereford, recruited Bulmer's employee Russell Jordan to administer the poison. Jordan had been working as a temporary forklift truck driver at Bulmer's since March 2001. The trio decided the weakness in Bulmer's Hereford factory was the "cap's hopper" point of the production line, where the tops are put on bottles. Gay created the yeast-based bacteria from freeze-dried samples at his home. But Jordan backed out and handed bottles of the contaminated product to police. During the police operation, Bulmer's hired security men to contain any threat ­ which cost the company £154,000.

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