Police backtrack on extortion statement

Police held off an announcement they were expected to make late yesterday on the extortion attempt threatening the Government with a foot and mouth disease epidemic.


Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Marshall indicated to NZPA late yesterday morning that he expected interviews being conducted at that time would be followed by a statement from police later in the day.

Similarly, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officials at an 11.30am press conference in Wellington said they had been told to expect a police statement.

But a spokeswoman for the investigation led by Detective Sergeant Harry Quinn, crime manager for the Wellington region, said late yesterday: "For operational reasons, we won't be making any public statement about these matters at this time".

The police statement had been expected as yesterday's deadline, set by the extortionist for the Government to hand over cash and change its taxation policy, expired.

The extortionist's letter threatened that "further" foot-and-mouth virus would be spread on the mainland today if the Government had not given in to the demands.

Yesterday was the fourth day since the animals were purportedly infected on Monday. MAF officials have said foot and mouth disease symptoms normally start showing after three or four days of incubation, but so far none of the Waiheke Island livestock had shown the earliest clinical symptom of a fever, let alone blisters or lameness.