QUOTE
By Wassayos Ngamkham, with Agency reports
Alexander Winstone, 36, of Britain mumbled an apology at a Thai police press conference on Friday after his arrest for trying to blackmail Tesco in the United Kingdom with email sent from Bangkok Internet cafes.
Police say he has confessed that he tried to blackmail the superstore giant Tesco by threatening to poison food in Tesco's British stores unless he was paid 2 million pounds (about 138 million baht, $4 million)
He issued a printed statement that described his actions as "very misguided, a silly idea that I took too far."
The email started in late May. The threats were quickly traced by the British police to an Internet cafe in the Nana area of Sukhumvit Road, according to deputy commissioner-general of police Pol Gen Issaraphan Sanitwong na Ayutthaya.
"We take this to be a serious crime and no laughing matter. We will be happy to put this man on trial in Thailand for attempted extortion if the British authorities do not ask for his extradition," said Pol Gen Issaraphan. The suspect would face a five-year jail term, he added.
Video footage from the cafe's security camera showed that the only customer at the time the email were sent was a large Caucasian male wearing a white T-shirt and glasses. The emails were signed "John Smith."
Scotland Yard detectives flew to Thailand to assist the Thai police and they were able to confront Winstone outside the cafe after he repeated the threat on Wednesday. He initially denied any wrongdoing.
Winstone's printed statement claimed that "it was never my intention to cause anybody any harm or hurt and, as I was working alone, it was impossible for me to do so."
The statement also offered an apology to Tesco, its staff for any distress he may have caused and to the British and Thai police forces for wasting their time and resources.
Winstone said that he was in Thailand investigating business opportunities since moving to Bangkok in April.
Pol Gen Issaraphan said that cybercrime had to be stamped on very hard if it was not to get out of control. This case should act as a warning to anyone nurturing a scheme to commit fraud or transfer pornography across Thailand's borders, he added.
Similar threats have been made against Tesco stores in China and in the UK in the past.
In 2001, a 51-year-old from Dorset, Robert Dyer, was jailed in Britain for 16 years for sending letters bombs to Tesco customers in an attempt to make the company give him a cash card that he could use to withdraw 1,000 pounds at a time from ATMs.
The court was told that Dyer had been inspired by Rodney Witchelo, a US police officer, who, in 1988, planted razor blades in baby food and mercury in a tin of beans.
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Earlier story
Lumpini police have arrested a British man suspected of using Bangkok Internet cafes in a plot to blackmail Tesco in the United Kingdom with a threat to poison its supermarket food.
Stephan Alexander, 36, and his wife were taken from the Nana area near Sukhumvit Road and handed to the Crime Suppression Division police, a source on the investigation team said.
Mr Alexander denied sending the threatening email, the source said. He was arrested on Friday after police and immigration authorities questioned both him and his wife.
The CSD was working closely with Scotland Yard. UK police were still not convinced Mr Alexander was the right man, said the source.
Scotland Yard investigators are in Bangkok working on the case, looking for the blackmail sender, who signed his messages with the name "John Smith".
The arrest came after police viewed the image taken from a security camera at an Internet cafe where a man sent an email to the superstore firm in London.
Pol Lt Col Chakrit Lamjangpan of the Crime Suppression Bureau said that video footage from the cafe's security camera showed that the only customer at the time the e-mails were sent was a large Caucasian male wearing a white t-shirt and glasses.
The source said the man had sent the messages from five Internet cafes, all of them located on Soi Nana, to Tesco executives in the UK.
He threatened to poison food in Tesco supermarkets if they did not pay him 2 million pounds (136 million baht) in cash.
The first message was sent on May 21. The latest went out on Wednesday at 9pm from an Internet cafe in the area.
Similar threats have been made against Tesco stores in China and in the UK in the past.
In 2001, a 51-year-old from Dorset, Robert Dyer, was jailed in Britain for 16 years for sending letters bombs to Tesco customers in an attempt to make the company give him a cash card that he could use to withdraw 1,000 pounds at a time from ATMs.
The court was told that Dyer had been inspired by Rodney Witchelo, a US police officer, who, in 1988, planted razor blades in baby food and mercury in a tin of beans.
Alexander Winstone, 36, of Britain mumbled an apology at a Thai police press conference on Friday after his arrest for trying to blackmail Tesco in the United Kingdom with email sent from Bangkok Internet cafes.
Police say he has confessed that he tried to blackmail the superstore giant Tesco by threatening to poison food in Tesco's British stores unless he was paid 2 million pounds (about 138 million baht, $4 million)
He issued a printed statement that described his actions as "very misguided, a silly idea that I took too far."
The email started in late May. The threats were quickly traced by the British police to an Internet cafe in the Nana area of Sukhumvit Road, according to deputy commissioner-general of police Pol Gen Issaraphan Sanitwong na Ayutthaya.
"We take this to be a serious crime and no laughing matter. We will be happy to put this man on trial in Thailand for attempted extortion if the British authorities do not ask for his extradition," said Pol Gen Issaraphan. The suspect would face a five-year jail term, he added.
Video footage from the cafe's security camera showed that the only customer at the time the email were sent was a large Caucasian male wearing a white T-shirt and glasses. The emails were signed "John Smith."
Scotland Yard detectives flew to Thailand to assist the Thai police and they were able to confront Winstone outside the cafe after he repeated the threat on Wednesday. He initially denied any wrongdoing.
Winstone's printed statement claimed that "it was never my intention to cause anybody any harm or hurt and, as I was working alone, it was impossible for me to do so."
The statement also offered an apology to Tesco, its staff for any distress he may have caused and to the British and Thai police forces for wasting their time and resources.
Winstone said that he was in Thailand investigating business opportunities since moving to Bangkok in April.
Pol Gen Issaraphan said that cybercrime had to be stamped on very hard if it was not to get out of control. This case should act as a warning to anyone nurturing a scheme to commit fraud or transfer pornography across Thailand's borders, he added.
Similar threats have been made against Tesco stores in China and in the UK in the past.
In 2001, a 51-year-old from Dorset, Robert Dyer, was jailed in Britain for 16 years for sending letters bombs to Tesco customers in an attempt to make the company give him a cash card that he could use to withdraw 1,000 pounds at a time from ATMs.
The court was told that Dyer had been inspired by Rodney Witchelo, a US police officer, who, in 1988, planted razor blades in baby food and mercury in a tin of beans.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Earlier story
Lumpini police have arrested a British man suspected of using Bangkok Internet cafes in a plot to blackmail Tesco in the United Kingdom with a threat to poison its supermarket food.
Stephan Alexander, 36, and his wife were taken from the Nana area near Sukhumvit Road and handed to the Crime Suppression Division police, a source on the investigation team said.
Mr Alexander denied sending the threatening email, the source said. He was arrested on Friday after police and immigration authorities questioned both him and his wife.
The CSD was working closely with Scotland Yard. UK police were still not convinced Mr Alexander was the right man, said the source.
Scotland Yard investigators are in Bangkok working on the case, looking for the blackmail sender, who signed his messages with the name "John Smith".
The arrest came after police viewed the image taken from a security camera at an Internet cafe where a man sent an email to the superstore firm in London.
Pol Lt Col Chakrit Lamjangpan of the Crime Suppression Bureau said that video footage from the cafe's security camera showed that the only customer at the time the e-mails were sent was a large Caucasian male wearing a white t-shirt and glasses.
The source said the man had sent the messages from five Internet cafes, all of them located on Soi Nana, to Tesco executives in the UK.
He threatened to poison food in Tesco supermarkets if they did not pay him 2 million pounds (136 million baht) in cash.
The first message was sent on May 21. The latest went out on Wednesday at 9pm from an Internet cafe in the area.
Similar threats have been made against Tesco stores in China and in the UK in the past.
In 2001, a 51-year-old from Dorset, Robert Dyer, was jailed in Britain for 16 years for sending letters bombs to Tesco customers in an attempt to make the company give him a cash card that he could use to withdraw 1,000 pounds at a time from ATMs.
The court was told that Dyer had been inspired by Rodney Witchelo, a US police officer, who, in 1988, planted razor blades in baby food and mercury in a tin of beans.
He is really sick