Man chains teenager to fake bomb
Source: Agencies |
August 5, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A masked man who broke into a wealthy family's home in Sydney, chained a fake bomb to a young woman's neck and left a list of demands was probably making an elaborate extortion attempt, Australian police said yesterday.
In a climactic scene straight out of a Hollywood thriller, Madeleine Pulver was freed from the device late on Wednesday after bomb squad specialists spent 10 hours trying to remove it from her neck safely. The 18-year-old was not hurt and police later determined the device contained no explosives.
A note of demands was attached to the device, according to Detective Superintendent Luke Moore of New South Wales police, though he declined to say what the demands were.
He said: "We are treating this as an attempted extortion - a very serious attempted extortion."
The drama began on Wednesday afternoon in the upmarket Sydney suburb of Mosman. Pulver's family contacted police saying their daughter had been attacked and there was a strange device attached to her.
Police sent bomb technicians, negotiators and detectives to the scene. Nearby homes were evacuated, streets were closed and medical and fire crews stood by.
Pulver told police a man wearing a mask broke into her home and confronted her while she was in the kitchen. She said the man forced her to stay still while he fitted the device to her neck and then fled.
When officials arrived on the scene, they found Pulver alone in the house with the device tethered to her neck with a chain.
Her father, William Pulver, chief executive of an information technology company, fought back tears yesterday as he talked about his daughter's ordeal.
"We as parents are extraordinarily proud of Maddy," he said, his tearful wife Belinda at his side. "I think she has woken up this morning in pretty good spirits. She is a little tired, a little sore from holding this damned device in place for about 10 hours."
Investigators spent Wednesday night combing the family's three-story home and scouring surrounding streets for evidence.
Moore said they had no prime suspect and are trying to establish how the man gained entry to the house. He added: "We are treating this as an individual incident. We have absolutely no information to suggest this is linked to any other crime."
Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said the device was quite sophisticated and was designed to look like a bomb as part of a "very, very elaborate hoax."
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was shocked when she heard about the case yesterday.
She told Fairfax Radio: "When I looked at it this morning, the first thing I said was it is like a Hollywood script - the kind of thing you would see at the cinema or on TV. You would never expect it to happen in real life in Australia."
Pulver was examined and released from a Sydney hospital yesterday.
Students at the private girls' school she attends were being offered counseling.
Wenona School officials said in a statement: "The school community is united behind the student and her family, and we thank God that she is not hurt."
In a climactic scene straight out of a Hollywood thriller, Madeleine Pulver was freed from the device late on Wednesday after bomb squad specialists spent 10 hours trying to remove it from her neck safely. The 18-year-old was not hurt and police later determined the device contained no explosives.
A note of demands was attached to the device, according to Detective Superintendent Luke Moore of New South Wales police, though he declined to say what the demands were.
He said: "We are treating this as an attempted extortion - a very serious attempted extortion."
The drama began on Wednesday afternoon in the upmarket Sydney suburb of Mosman. Pulver's family contacted police saying their daughter had been attacked and there was a strange device attached to her.
Police sent bomb technicians, negotiators and detectives to the scene. Nearby homes were evacuated, streets were closed and medical and fire crews stood by.
Pulver told police a man wearing a mask broke into her home and confronted her while she was in the kitchen. She said the man forced her to stay still while he fitted the device to her neck and then fled.
When officials arrived on the scene, they found Pulver alone in the house with the device tethered to her neck with a chain.
Her father, William Pulver, chief executive of an information technology company, fought back tears yesterday as he talked about his daughter's ordeal.
"We as parents are extraordinarily proud of Maddy," he said, his tearful wife Belinda at his side. "I think she has woken up this morning in pretty good spirits. She is a little tired, a little sore from holding this damned device in place for about 10 hours."
Investigators spent Wednesday night combing the family's three-story home and scouring surrounding streets for evidence.
Moore said they had no prime suspect and are trying to establish how the man gained entry to the house. He added: "We are treating this as an individual incident. We have absolutely no information to suggest this is linked to any other crime."
Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said the device was quite sophisticated and was designed to look like a bomb as part of a "very, very elaborate hoax."
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was shocked when she heard about the case yesterday.
She told Fairfax Radio: "When I looked at it this morning, the first thing I said was it is like a Hollywood script - the kind of thing you would see at the cinema or on TV. You would never expect it to happen in real life in Australia."
Pulver was examined and released from a Sydney hospital yesterday.
Students at the private girls' school she attends were being offered counseling.
Wenona School officials said in a statement: "The school community is united behind the student and her family, and we thank God that she is not hurt."
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