Tesco bomb campaign

The Tesco bomb campaign was an attempted extortion against the British supermarket chain Tesco which started in Bournemouth, England, in August 2000 and led to one of the largest and most secretive operations ever undertaken by Dorset Police. During the campaign, a blackmailer identified by the pseudonym "Sally" sent letters to Tesco stores threatening to harm customers if his demands—for Clubcards, modified so that the holder could withdraw cash from ATMs—were not met.

Several months after the threat first came to light, "Sally" sent out several letter bombs, one of which was received and exploded in the face of the recipient, causing her shock and minor injuries. The Royal Mail intercepted several other letter bombs, which had been held up because insufficient stamps had been put on them. In October 2000, "Sally" threatened to use pipe bombs against Tesco customers and the threat was taken seriously enough that Tesco began the production of the modified Clubcards, but were unable to produce the required number before the deadline set by the blackmailer. In November, "Sally" claimed to have placed a pipe bomb in a garden in the Ferndown area of Dorset, but no bomb was found.

Police eventually mounted a surveillance operation on the postbox to which several of the extortion letters had been traced and identified "Sally" as Robert Edward Dyer. Dyer was arrested in February 2001, over six months since the beginning of the extortion attempt, and charged with several offences, including nine counts of blackmail and one of common assault, of which he was found guilty in May 2001. He was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment on 12 June 2001, later reduced to 12 years on appeal. A number of similar extortion attempts against supermarket chains and other businesses and subsequent attacks on Tesco have since been compared to Dyer's campaign by the media.

Beginnings

The campaign began in August 2000, when John Purnell, director of security for Tesco, the United Kingdom's largest supermarket chain, was telephoned by a newsagent in Bournemouth who had discovered a copy of an extortion letter left on his shop's photocopier. The letter demanded that Tesco give away Clubcards, modified for use in cash machines, with a combined value of £200,000 in the Bournemouth Daily Echo.[1][2][3]

The letter, dated 22 August 2000, was written as follows [grammar and spelling mistakes have been adjusted]:

"Without prejudice.

Very soon some people in the Bmth [Bournemouth] area will get small bombs sent to them. they will all be recent Tesco customers. These bombs will be very small, just a warning.

Unless you agree to my terms very quickly the bombs will get bigger and much more more dangerous. They will all go to Tesco customers. Anyone seen shopping at Tesco will be a possible target. You can only stop this by meeting my terms.

You will have made enough Tesco loyalty cards to put one in every copy of the evening Echo [Bournemouth Daily Echo].

Initial investigation

The police investigation into the campaign, codenamed Operation Hornbill, was one of the most secretive ever undertaken by Dorset Police and one of the largest in British policing history.[6][1]

Approximately 100 officers worked on the enquiry, working 24 hours a day. Officers were selected across the whole of the Dorset area. Officers working on the investigation were not allowed to tell their colleagues what they were working on.[4] This was to keep the investigation covert and related to a similar, historic case. In 1990, Rodney Whitchelo,[6] attempted to extort £4 million from H. J. Heinz Company by spiking jars of baby food with broken glass and caustic soda. The Metropolitan Police investigation revealed that Whitchelo had recently retired as a London Metropolitan Police detective.[7]

First bombing and discovery of other devices

During James' meeting, he was informed that a letter bomb had exploded at an address in Ferndown. In a documentary about the investigation in 2009, James said "There was a knock at the door and I was told by one of my officers that in fact, an incendiary device, a firebomb, had just gone off. The atmosphere of the meeting suddenly changed. Clearly there was a risk and the threat was very, very real."[1][4]

Jean Evans, then aged 70, opened the letter bomb, which exploded in her face. She was taken to hospital with minor injuries - two weeks earlier, Evans had left intensive care at hospital.[3]

A bomb disposal team from the British Army was dispatched to the scene. They discovered the remains of a 'very small amount of incendiary composition', which was inside a cassette case in the letter. The device had used a party popper to detonate gunpowder inside the A4/A5 size envelope. Whilst not considered a lethal device, there was the risk that it could have set fire to the address and as was seen, had injured Evans.[2]

Investigations continue

Trial and conviction

On 4 May 2001, Dyer appeared at Dorchester Crown Court and pleaded guilty on nine counts of blackmail, as well as a sole count of common assault against Jean Evans, the woman who opened the letter bomb.[4]

Prosecuting, Derwin Hope said: 'The evidence shows clearly that this is a very devious man. What it revealed is a deliberate sustained and indeed cunning blackmail that was only stopped by massive police resources'.[6]

Defending, Richard Onslow said: 'The four devices actually sent were made from the detonators of party poppers and gunpowder from a 12-bore cartridge. They were not devices intended to harm. The chances of people being harmed were small."[6]

On 11 June 2001, he was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment at the same court.[2][11]

Aftermath

It was found that Dyer had no connection with Tesco.[4]

DSI James later revealed that Dyer "was an individual in desperate need of money and believing that Tesco's were the answer to all his problems." It emerged that Dyer had needed money to 'bail out' his video shop business, which at the time, wasn't successful.[3]

DSI James added 'he made a number of simple mistakes and whereas people may think that in the future they can copy this offence, this is a very difficult type of offence to carry out and if you try it, you will be caught'.[1][4]

DS Swanton later stated Dyer's motivation was 'purely a financial one' and that Dyer was an 'incredibly dangerous man'.[4]

Dyer's house in Caroline Road, Kinson, was put up for sale in June 2001, for £87,500.

See also

• Tesco blackmail plot - an extortion attempt against Tesco and which led to the largest blackmail investigation in the UK, between 2018 and 2020, where an extortionist threatened to contaminate baby food with salmonella, white powder and knives.
• 2007 Tesco blackmail campaign - an extortion attempt against the British supermarket chain Tesco in 2007, where an extortionist threatened to put caustic soda in yoghurt sold in the store.
• Edgar Pearce - dubbed the 'Mardi Gras bomber', Pearce targeted six different branches of Barclays bank and five branches of Sainsbury's supermarkets with home-made bombs, attempting to get the companies to pay him money.
• Pedigree Chum dog food and Heinz extortion campaign - an extortion against Pedigree Petfoods and Heinz by Rodney Whitchelo, who contaminated dog and baby food.