NZ man jailed over baby milk blackmail
Print Edition
AN Auckland businessman who threatened to poison baby formula bound for China in a bid to blackmail New Zealand’s multi-billion dollar dairy industry was jailed for more than eight years yesterday.
Jeremy Kerr, 60, pleaded guilty to two counts of blackmail after sending threatening letters containing a pesticide called 1080 to dairy giant Fonterra and the NZ Farmer’s Federation in 2014.
In the letters, he threatened to lace formula destined for various markets — China was the only country specifically named — unless New Zealand stopped using 1080.
The threat to supplies bound for China, a major importer of Kiwi baby formula, was not initially disclosed by New Zealand authorities, who tightened access to baby powder in domestic shops.
They also launched a massive investigation into the threat to New Zealand’s dairy sector, which was worth NZ$11.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) in 2015, making it the country’s biggest export earner.
Police interviewed 2,600 people, arresting Kerr after DNA evidence linked him to the letters.
Prosecutors said he owned the rights to a pesticide that was a market rival to 1080.
A High Court hearing last month was told he was under financial pressure and had mental health issues following his wife’s death when the threats were made.
He told police the reference to China was just to “add some impact.”
Judge Geoffrey Venning accepted Kerr never meant to carry out the threat but said it was still one of the most serious cases of blackmail to come before the courts.
The threat could have jeopardized trade relations and had cost affected parties NZ$32 million, including the police investigation and security measures implemented by Fonterra.
Noting that the maximum term for blackmail is 14 years, Venning sentenced Kerr to eight-and-half years.
Fonterra safety manager Maury Leyland said the threat had a very real, emotional and financial cost on Fonterra’s staff and business as well as on ordinary people.
“It is hard to imagine a worse threat to children and families,” she said in a victim impact statement.
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