Threat to infant formula earns jail term for New Zealand blackmailer

A businessman who threatened to spike New Zealand infant formula destined for markets at home and abroad was jailed Wednesday for eight and a half years.

Auckland businessman Jeremy Hamish Kerr sent letters anonymously to dairy giant Fonterra and the Federated Farmers industry group in November 2014, threatening to spike infant formula with the poison 1080.

The letters threatened to contaminate infant and other formula with 1080 unless New Zealand stopped using the poison for pest control.

Sodium monofluoroacetate, known as 1080, is a poison used to protect New Zealand's native flora and fauna against introduced pests such as possums and ferrets.

Radio New Zealand reported that the High Court in Auckland heard that Kerr owned a company that manufactured an alternative to 1080 poison.

Prosecutor Christine Gordon said the combined losses to dairy companies and investigation agencies was in the order of 37 million NZ dollars (25.04 million U.S. dollars).

Justice Geoffrey Venning said the threat was made worse by Kerr including a fatal dose of 1080 mixed with milk powder.

He said the potential impact on New Zealand trade could have been catastrophic.

Justice Venning had earlier ruled that Kerr's financial gain was at least part of the motivation behind the offending, as his financial state was desperate at the time and his desire to make money motivated his threats.

Kerr's lawyer said the businessman acted out of stupidity, and financial gain was not the primary driver.

Fonterra chairman John Wilson told Radio New Zealand Wednesday that Kerr's actions were deplorable and had a huge impact on the cooperative and other food firms.

Kerr was arrested in October last year after a lengthy police investigation and faced two counts of blackmail.

The use of 1080 in pest control has been controversial over the years with opponents saying it poisons non-target animals and contaminates the environment. Endit