eBayer pleads guilty to 'anthrax' scare

Coughs to 'stupid, foolish act'

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 20th April 2005 14:20 GMT

Join our expert panel in discussing application security

A UK man has admitted threatening to kill an eBay trader after a DVD drive he ordered failed to show up.

Daniel Finch, 31, from Humberston in Lincolnshire, was so hacked off with eBay trader David Mackie when the £40 DVD drive he ordered failed to arrived, he sent two letters to the trader both containing white powder.

When Mackie opened the letter it contained a note which read: "For your sins to all the humans and their lives. You touched the Jihad. It's starting with you. You now have 22 hours of life left." Mackie thought the white powder was anthrax and was "in fear of his life", reports the BBC.

He later contacted the police and sought medical treatment.

But the powder was, in fact, a harmless white pigment called titanium dioxide.

A second letter containing white powder was opened by Mackie's girlfriend.

Appearing in court yesterday Finch admitted two charges of threatening to kill David Mackie. The letters were sent in January and February this year.

Speaking to the Grimsby Telegraph Finch apologised for the hoax letters.

"I did a stupid, foolish act and I am now paying for the mistake I made," he told the paper. ®