Tesco blackmail trial: Mum 'felt sick' after finding blade in baby food

Nigel Wright claimed to be part of a group of disgruntled dairy farmers who had been underpaid by Tesco, the Old Bailey has heard

A mum "felt sick" after almost feeding her son a craft knife blade that was put in baby food as part of a blackmail plot, the Old Bailey has heard.

Farmer Nigel Wright, from Lincolnshire, is accused of deliberately spiking baby food as part of a campaign to extort £1.4m in Bitcoin from Tesco.

Mr Wright, 45, allegedly offered to reveal the location of the contaminated jars in exchange for cryptocurrency.

He denies two counts of contaminating goods and three counts of blackmail.

The Old Bailey heard how two mothers came close to feeding their babies food laced with metal fragments.

• More stories from Lincolnshire

Morven Smith, from Lockerbie, said: "I gave my son a couple of spoonfuls and noticed something shiny. It was horrendous. I felt sick I was so shocked."

Mrs Smith was feeding her baby Heinz sweet and sour chicken in December when she spotted the shard of metal in the bowl.

Tesco issued a national recall of all jars of the product, prompting Harpeet Kaur Singh to say she too had discovered fragments of metal when she was feeding her nine-month-old daughter in Rochdale.

She found shards of metal in a jar of Heinz Sunday chicken dinner and a jar of cheesy pasta stars.

'Forced by travellers'

About 42,000 jars of Heinz baby food were recalled, however no evidence was found that any more had been tampered with.

The Old Bailey also heard how Mr Wright wrote further letters to Tesco relating to Cow & Gate baby food, resulting in 140,000 items being withdrawn from the shelves.

Following his arrest, draft messages to Tesco were found on his laptop as well as photos of tins of food and jars of baby food and slivers of metal, the court was told.

The jury heard he signed off his letters "Guy Brush and the Dairy Pirates" and claimed to be part of a cohort of dairy farmers angry at the low price they were paid for their milk.

Mr Wright, a sheep farmer from Market Rasen, admits various elements of the campaign but claims he was forced into it by travellers who had demanded he give them £1m, and that he was acting in fear of his life.

The trial continues.