White powder hoax 'was not a schoolboy prank'

Staff at NatWest Bank in Market Street, York, discovered a package containing white powder among the mail after returning to work following the Easter Bank Holiday.

Acting Detective Inspector Ian Dyer, of York police, said: "It happened in the school holidays. I was always mindful of the fact that it was possibly a kid, a schoolboy prank."

But he said he would have expected the culprit to brag about it once back at school with word getting back to the police. That hasn't happened," he said.

He said the case had proved difficult to solve.

"If it had been a local criminal I thought we might have received a phone call giving us a name. That hasn't happened either.

"It is a difficult one. Is it someone who has a grudge against NatWest, or a loner who decided to do something like this? It is difficult to determine what sort of person commits that type of offence. We are no closer to catching the person responsible."

But he warned others considering repeating the hoax, saying: "Anyone convicted of sending a dangerous substance faces up to 14 years in prison - someone who sends a hoax package could be imprisoned for up to seven years."

Following the chemical attack alert, the Evening Press revealed that it had cost emergency services more than £11,000 and thousands more in lost earnings for traders.

The nearby Scarborough Building Society closed for the entire day because of the scare.

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service group manager Graham Buckle said the incident had cost them about £6,000, with four appliances deployed for almost six hours.

He said it had tied up a lot of their resources until officers were able to ascertain what kind of substance it was.

Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service said the cost of replacing suits and equipment used in the operation would run to about £5,000.

Updated: 10:27 Friday, April 22, 2005