Suspicious wife causes bomb scare after bugging husband's car

File photo / Thinkstock

A suspicious wife's attempt to prove her husband was having an affair backfired spectacularly when a tracking device fitted to his car was mistaken for a bomb.

Diletta Bianchini had employed a private detective after her husband William Sachiti began working unusual hours.

Unbeknown to her the investigator fixed a tracker, roughly the size of a cigarette packet, to the petrol tank of Mr Sachiti's £40,000 silver Lexus using magnets.

And when the husband - a security consultant and entrepreneur - spotted the device flashing he feared the worst.

He rushed to alert police, who blocked off a busy high street, evacuated a coffee shop and scrambled the bomb squad, fire engines and ambulances.

Mr Sachiti, who as an entrepreneur once appeared on BBC programme Dragons' Den, said: "When I first saw the device it was after I had my car washed. It was in Morrisons' car park. At first I didn't know what to do.

"I called a friend and they were concerned it could be something dangerous. So I went straight away to the police station."

Mr Sachiti said his work involved security and anti-fraud consultancy work with banks and he feared it could be computer hackers pursuing him.

The police threw a cordon around his car and blocked off the high street in Sutton, South London, while they investigated.

One resident who was caught up in the evacuation of a nearby Caffe Nero, said: "I was alarmed about what was happening. I was told to get off that part of the high street and to stay away from the cordon for my own safety."

A police spokesman confirmed a section of Carshalton Road in Sutton was cordoned off on Sunday afternoon and the drama continued until officers were informed the tracking device had been fitted, at which point the bomb disposal squad, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service were stood down.

It turned out the device had been fitted to Mr Sachiti's car at the couple's home in Banstead, Surrey.

He said: "It was the wife who hired someone to follow me as she was concerned about my new ambiguous work hours.

"She did not realise that they would put a device under my car and thought that they would only follow me and take pictures to confirm my whereabouts.

"She may well have thought I'm having an affair but I'm not. My wife has always been that sort of person who has wanted to know where I am."

And his wife certainly appears to regret her suspicions.

Yesterday Miss Bianchini, 35, an oncologist who works at Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, was pictured in a local newspaper embracing her husband.

She said: "I'm just so sorry it happened. It was a huge mistake and I was out of my mind."

Mr Sachiti appeared on Dragons' Den two years ago to ask for money to invest in his 'Clever Bin', a solar-powered street bin, complete with an alarm and GPS tracking, which he was aiming to sell to local authorities.

His proposal was turned down for investment after Dragon Peter Jones described it as "the biggest load of bull I've ever heard in the Den".

- The Daily Mail