'Warped' hoaxer, 64, who waged six-week campaign of terror with string of bogus ... trends now
A 'warped' hoaxer who waged a six-week campaign of terror with bogus chemical attacks against schools, shopping centres and businesses has been told he faces a lengthy jail term.
Gary Preston, 64, sent letters containing a white powder to 21 locations, causing panic and evacuations.
Some of the envelopes contained threats including 'If I was you, I would hold my breath and run in the name of Allah' and were signed off with the black flag of ISIS.
Others warned 'Think fast, you have seconds inshallah', 'there are improvised explosive devices planted' and 'we have hostages and any attempts to rescue they will meet their fate'.
However, fears that the envelopes contained ricin or another toxic substance turned out to be misplaced after it was found to be harmless talcum powder.
Gary Preston, 64, who is facing jail after escaping justice for nearly ten years following a hoax campaign of terror in 2013
Emergency services pictured on the scene at Haverhill over 'concerns for an individual' after Preston phoned the fire brigade to say he had taken ricin
No chemicals were found at the 64-year-old's property after it was visited by multiple emergency workers. After this incident Preston's DNA was linked with a number of hoax cases and he was subsequently arrested
Locations targeted in the 2013 campaign included the Westfield shopping malls in east and west London, two primary schools in Braintree, Essex, the DVLA headquarters in Swansea and Transport for London premises.
Letters were also sent to a Premier Inn near Stansted airport and branches of Vision Express, Specsavers and Costa Coffee.
Detectives were unable to identify who was responsible. All they had to go on was a match with DNA from an unknown individual who carried out a knifepoint sex attack on a woman in Rainham, Essex, in 1988.
It was only in September 2020 that Preston, of Haverhill in Suffolk, was arrested after his DNA was taken for an unconnected incident, in which he phoned a fire brigade to say he had taken ricin at a sheltered housing block for over-55s.
Neighbours described how he came to the authorities' attention a few weeks earlier after sparking a security alert.
Six fire crews, including a crew tasked with handling explosives, and police arrived at the scene and surrounded the scene which was then cordoned off.
'He was hanging out of the window and threatening he had anthrax. We were told by the police to stay inside,' said a woman in her seventies, who didn't want to be identified.
'He was a dangerous man. Why he was put in an old people's complex I don't know. The people in there must have been terrified. Most of them are bed-ridden.'
Another woman who lives in the street said: 'Fire engines and police cars turned up, it was about 10am. The fireman
