'Anonymous' hoaxer is caught
after sending video to paper

[06 January 2005]

A hoaxer who sent a threatening video to the Weston and Somerset Mercury has been caught - after he left footage of himself on the tape.

He posted the video - showing a youngster putting a firework in a post box - to the Mercury office in Weston, along with an 'anonymous' letter signed by 'The Rocketeer', which said the film gave a taste of what was to come.

After watching the tape Mercury news editor Andy Ridgway decided to hand it over to police - who later found footage of the hoaxer at the beginning of the tape, leading to his arrest.

Jacob Smith's fingerprints were also found on the letter, and further evidence of his involvement was found at his home on Wheatfield Drive, Wick-St-Lawrence.

Andy said: "I took the tape home with me to have a look at and all I spotted was some grainy footage of a street somewhere and someone putting a firework into a post box.

"I handed it to the police and a few weeks later I had a phone call saying they had analysed the tape and had managed to get an image from it, and as a result they had arrested someone.

"It is unbelieveable that he left his own image on the tape - he obviously made himself very easy to find."

Appearing at North Somerset Magistates' Court, 21-year-old Smith pleaded guilty to offences under the public disorder act for including threatening, abusive or insulting words in the letter.

He was ordered to pay £55 costs and sentenced to a three-month curfew order with electronic tagging. He cannot leave his sister's house at Wheatfield Drive between 8pm and 6am.