Farmer who laced Tesco baby jars with metal shards jailed

Nigel Wright, 45, hatched a plot to get rich by deliberately contaminating jars of Heinz baby food between May 2018 and February 2020.

He sent dozens of letters and emails to the supermarket giant in a bid to extort £1.4 million in bitcoin - and a subsequent investigation by Hertfordshire Constabulary into Wright became the largest blackmail investigation ever conducted in the UK.

Two mothers – one in Lockerbie, Scotland, and the other in Rochdale, north west England – had been just moments away from feeding their infants the food before they spotted the potentially lethal contaminants.

Wright spiked the jars with broken-up blades of a craft knife and iron filings.

Photo issued by Hertfordshire Constabulary of a jar of Heinz baby food that was laced

At trial, Wright denied masterminding the plot – claiming instead that he was himself being blackmailed by a group of travellers who had threatened to kill his children and rape his wife.

But he was convicted of two counts of contaminating goods and three counts of blackmail for demanding cryptocurrency from Welwyn Garden City-based Tesco in exchange for revealing where the contaminated food had been placed by a jury at the Old Bailey in August.

He was also convicted of a further charge of blackmail for demanding £150,000 worth of bitcoin from a driver with whom he had had a road rage altercation in an anonymous letter.

Today, Wright was jailed for 11 years for the plot against Tesco, with a further three years for the anonymous letter sent to the driver, in which he threatened to execute him with a rifle and murder his wife and children.

Nigel Wright. Credit: Hertfordshire Constabulary

The investigation into Wright – named Operation Hancock – became the largest blackmail investigation ever conducted in the UK.

At various points during the investigation there were more than 100 officers deployed across the country on the case working day and night shifts.

In one draft note, Wright wrote: “Imagine a baby’s mouth cut open and blood pouring out, or the inside of their bellies cut and bleeding. You pay, you save them.”

He signed off his letters and emails as the “Guy Brush and the Dairy Pirates”, claiming to be part of a cohort of farmers angry at the low price they were paid for their milk.

Tesco was forced to issue a product recall when a mother from Lockerbie discovered pieces of metal in a jar of Heinz sweet and sour chicken baby food.

In December 2019, Morven Smith had already fed a few spoonfuls to her 10-month-old baby when she spotted “something shiny” in the bowl and pulled it out.

She said: “It was horrendous. I felt sick I was so shocked.”

Photo issued by Hertfordshire Constabulary showing the workshop of Nigel Wright

A second mother later came forward in Rochdale to say she too had discovered metal while feeding her nine-month-old daughter.

Harpreet Kaur-Singh told Tesco she had found shards of metal in a jar of Heinz Sunday chicken dinner and a jar of cheesy pasta stars.

In all, 42,000 jars of Heinz baby food were recovered, although there is no evidence that any more had been tampered with.

The total cost to Tesco of the recall, refunds and investigation was an estimated £2.7 million.

Screen grab issued by Hertfordshire Constabulary showing Nigel Wright in the Tesco in the aisle containing baby food

When Wright was tracked down to his family home outside Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, in February this year, police found photographs of contaminated baby food on his laptop – with some the same flavour as the Rochdale jars.

Officers also recovered some £100,000 in bitcoin which had been sent by undercover officers during the investigation.

Deputy Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Lucy Thomson from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit said: “Throughout this investigation our primary focus was always to protect public from harm and bring the person responsible to justice.

“Wright is a dangerous offender who gave no thought to the babies he could have harmed during his callous pursuit of money. He concocted an elaborate tale to try and cover his tracks, claiming he was being forced to carry out his crimes.

"The jury saw through his lies and found him guilty of all charges. Wright now faces a long time in prison where he can think about what he has done.”

Hertfordshire Assistant Chief Constable Bill Jephson, who led the inquiry, added: “I hope that the lengthy sentence handed down to Wright today acts as a deterrent to anyone who thinks blackmail is a viable criminal option.

"The police investigation was supported by a range of specialist government departments as well as the victim companies, who were highly responsive and operationally supportive.

"The resources available to law enforcement to respond to threats of this nature are significant and such crimes will simply not be tolerated.

“I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to all those who played a part in bringing Wright to justice.”