Germany charges pensioner accused of threatening to poison sweets
NAN-F-48
Poison
Cologne, May 9, 2017 (dpa/NAN) German prosecutors said on Tuesday that they had filed extortion charges against a pensioner accused of threatening to poison sweets sold by leading retailers with cyanide.
The prosecutor’s office said that the 74-year-old is also accused of spilling butanoic acid in several supermarkets in order to give credence to his threat, causing damages of 10,880 dollars.
A Bonn-based spokesman said that the man had not succeeded in poisoning any products at the retailers in question Haribo, Kaufland and Lidl, adding that the customers were not at risk at any point.
The pensioner, who is thought to have committed the crimes because he was short of money, was arrested on Christmas Eve and has been in custody since then. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Abdullahi Yusuf