Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) 10 Clitheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, January 31st, 2008 www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified) How police caught Tesco blackmailer by Duncan Smith


THIS week, police revealed how they tracked Tesco black­ mailer Philip McHugh down and how his blackmail plot


eventually collapsed. Blackmailer McHugh tried to


extort a million pounds out of Tesco after running up on-line gambling debts. The former tax inspector had even boasted to friends how easy it would be to blackmail the organisation. In the spring of last year,


McHugh decided to put his plan into action. In the weeks and months that were to follow, he played an extraordinary game of cat and mouse with both Tesco and the police who were hunting him. He even tried to throw detec­


TESCO in Clifhcroe was one of the stores targeted by Pliilip McHugh (s)


tives off the scent by placing a forensic “red herring” on one of his blackmail letters. He stuck a single strand of hair under a stamp on a blackmail letter. It was not his and it was designed to throw police off his trail because he knew they would subject him to tests for DNA. In launching his blackmail cam­


paign against Tesco he applied for a Tuxedo Blue Diamond pre-paid debit card account. Then he set about contacting the stores, demanding sums of money be paid into the Tuxedo account so that he could draw them out at cash machines using the card. If they did not comply, he stated that he would contaminate dairy products. As the weeks went by, his


threats became more sinister, and he stated that bombs would go off in supermarkets. In May last year, McHugh targeted stores near


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Dundee in Scotland, then he switched to Tesco's head office in Cheshunt, Herts in June. As a result, Hertfordshire Police took on the job of finding the black­ mailer. This week it was revealed that Tesco made available money for McHugh to draw out. Hertfordshire Police said it was


done to “draw out the blackmailer into the open”. Working out which cashpoint


machines he was using, the police were able to obtain CCTV images of the blackmailer. The first trans­ action in which he was caught on camera was when he went to the HSBC branch in Moor Lane, Clitheroe. He was careful to keep his face covered. He wore an industrial mask and had the col­ lars of his jacket turned up. How­ ever, days later when he went to a TSB branch in Bolton, he was not so careful and, for the first time, detectives could see his face.


Targeted With his Tuxedo card,


McHugh could draw out £200 a day and police were building up a picture of the area which he was operating in. In July 2007, McHugh targeted 76 Tesco stores across the country. In each of the letters he was threatening that unless money was paid into the account, bombs would go off. In fact there was a postal strike


as he sent the letters and only 14 got through. On Saturday, July 14th last year, 14 stores across the UK were forced to close, with fears that a bomb had been placed on the premises. In addition, McHugh sent let­


ters to the police, British Trans­ port Police and local newspapers. They all began “A bomb will go off between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. today Saturday” and then the


names of the store. McHugh sent one letter to Tesco's head office in which he said: “How did you like Saturday? Just a taster of what is to come if you don’t deposit £200 a day into my account. The over­ all figure has now jumped to £lm. because of the trouble you have put me to.


_ “You have all the details of


account, so just keep it topped up please. Please don't think that there is anything personal in all of this, but if you get emotionally involved, it won't help -


treat this


as a cost of your business opera­ tion.”


Chillingly, his letter added: “Please do not underestimate me


- 1 am absolutely desperate and blood will flow if you do not co­ operate.”


McHugh went on: “Do not


ignore me or think me a fool, because I'll crucify Tesco interests wherever I find them. A sensible approach MU keep us all in clover - you know there is enough to go round for the brave. All best wish­ es for the continued success of Tesco.” Police think the signature


“Arbuthnot” was a reference to a famous poem written by an 18th Century poet about a spider. He tried to throw police off the


trail by sticking a strand of hair that was not his under the stamp. On one occasion a hand written letter had been penned in a child­ like scrawl. McHugh’s blackmail letters


with collectors’ stamps of the laughing policeman, were thought to be poking fun at the detectives he knew would be looking for him. I t was following a visit to


Carlisle on July 23rd last year that McHugh was arrested. He had visited a cashpoint in


the town and the transaction was immediately notified to the team of officers hunting him. They suspected he had strong links


with


Clitheroe and would be return­ ing to Lancashire either by train or by car. A team staked out Clitheroe railway station and he was seen getting off a train after it had pulled into the station. With McHugh


identified and located, it was a simple matter of mounting am


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^ OSWMJDTVVISTLE M lL X S ^ by Duncan Smith


WHEN Philip McHugh sat in his Clitheroe home plotting to blackmail supermarket giant Tesco, he seriously underestimated the resource­ fulness and determination of police officers who brought him swiftly to justice. The investigation into his


apparently life-threatening blackmail demands was led by Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Major Crime Task Force, as the Tesco HQ is located in Hertfordshire. Its thorough investigation involved officers from a number of police forces, including Lancashire Constabulary, together with other law enforcement agen­ cies including the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Described as one of the


most fast-moving and largest inquiries of its kind ever undertaken in Hertfordshire, officers worked closely with Tesco and SOCA using high-


www.clitheroeadverfiser.co.uk


The evidence that convicted Philip McHugh ! !


13th July (Friday) 2007


Dear Execuitves ol TESCO, How did von Ilk® Saturday ? Just a taster of what is to come il you don't d e p o s it^ pounds Into w aK ou nt Tho overall fioura hair now jomparj to 1.000.000 pounds beoause ol


the trouble you have put me to. ‘ . You have all the details of my account so just keep it topped up plea». Please don't


that there is anything personal in all of this ( I hke TESCO and enpy te but if you gel emotionally involved it wont help • heat this as a cost of your business operation


Pleaw do not onderostimala me • I an> absoluleV desperale and blood t»lch me out at the hole in the wall machines - why ”


co-ooerate IVVJIL destroy your business and others wiH pick up your customers, - ^p^melw^sototlLTdrswIOOpoundsadayUb^noobjecbonto^^^


S t T , ' 'K


fucks sake ignore me or think me a fool because Til crucify TESCO interests where-everi find them


A sensible approach will keep us all ran clover - you lu iw mere is .enough to 50 round lor then brave. All best wishes for the continued success of TESCU. _. / '


ARBUTHNOT The sign is the spider


THE EVIDENCE: .Above, from (he lcf(, Philip McHugh is filmed drawing money from HSBC branch in Moor Lane, Clhheroe, stepping on a bus and one of the letters he sent to Tesco. Bottom left: A letter McHugh sent to this newspaper.


tech police tactics to identify McHugh. Throughout the entire operation, customer and staff safety was para­ mount to both the Constabu­ lary and Tesco. McHugh sent the threaten­


ing hoax letters to a number of stores, which, faced with a genuine safety threat to cus­ tomers and staff, were forced to close on Saturday, July 14th. A total of 14 stores closed their doors while staff and police searched for sus­ pect devices, with McHugh apparently unable to resist putting his home town store on the hit list. Hertfordshire Detective


Chief Inspector Bill Jephson, who led the inquiry, said: “This was a large-scale, com­ plex and challenging investi­ gation involving a consider­ able number of police forces


' THIS is a pleafor a return lo sanity. ' I read with horror about the attack on the young man return­


ing home from work. This man, who happened to have learning dificulties, was going about his normal business and, by all accounts was a credit to himself, when he appeared to be beaten senseless by some teenage thugs. Another story on your front page about a "creature” who had comitted countless crimes and not been punished for any of them, except to the extent that he has now been given a warning, shows the crazy state of our nation today. I urge you to walk the streets, listen to the young people and


you will find so many of them who respect nothing, know there is no punishment for anything they may do wrong and, frankly, laugh at the idea of being given a warning. Our society needs lo return to the reasoned application of cor­


poral punishment. Had the creature been caned once or twice at the START of his criminal jourriey, il would have ENDED quite quickly. Equally, the thuggish teenagers who carried out the attack merit a caning, girls included. This woidd show them the limits which society puts on behaviour and also would keep in line the borderline cases who are not really bad, but whose behav­ iour in this crazy modern Britain leaves much to be desired. Instead what do we have? That poor lad tuill be traumatised while the guilty laugh. And as for that “creature”, may I be bold


inough to suggest that whenever he can he puts a brick thorugh a


silent, decent people please stand up and be counted. Shout loud­ ly for the return lo sanity!


\indow or smashes a car up. “Warning” indeed! Will all the /


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and specialist agencies. It was through their dedication, skill and tenacity that we were able to trace and arrest the offender without injury or harm being caused to anyone. “Philip McHugh was a des­


perate man, out of work and without any means to make money. He didn’t think twice or even care about the possible consequences of his actions. He became fixated and enjoyed the short-lived thrill of blackmailing Tesco and putting the police service under huge pressure for his own gain. His sentence demonstrates the seriousness of the crimes he committed, which had a significant finan­ cial impact on both the retail­ er and the police.” DCI Jephson added: “The


response in this case reflects how seriously blackmail is


taken and that companies like Tesco will not be held to ran­ som.” Bill Hughes, Director Gen­


eral of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, said: “This individual made callous threats to harm members of the public and Tesco staff across the country, for purely financial gain. I ’m glad that our combined work with Hertfordshire Constabulary, providing specialist expertise and assistance, ensured no one was harmed and that the perpetrator was caught before he could carry out his threats.” Tesco's Retail and Logistics


Director, David Potts com­ mented: “I would firstly like to thank the authorities for their efficient handling of this investigation that has result­ ed in bringing this individual to justice. Throughout this incident, all of our staff acted with the utmost professional­ ism and I would also like to thank them for their efforts.”


d jou do not


Clifheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, January 31 st, 2008 11


FOR the past tliree-and-a-half years, unemployed Philip McHugh lived with his Russ­ ian wife and two teenage chil­ dren in Milton Avenue, Clitheroe. He had previously lived in


the Accrington area and worked as a tax inspector. As the high-profile case came


to an end this week and news of his six-year jail sentence spread, his Clitheroe neigh­ bours, who asked not to be named, described him as a man whp kept himself to himself. > ‘!He seemed like a really nice, quiet man. We hardly ever saw him, but whenever we did, he rarely spoke. His wife and chil­ dren are very nice people. I t ’s shocking what he did. All the residents on Milton Avenue cannot believe that a man who lived yards away can be capa­ ble of doing something like this.” Around four years ago, 52-


year-old McHugh briefly worked for the town’s Shelter charity shop in Moor Lane. His former colleagues have this week described him as a “very quiet man”. A spokesman for the shop said: “He didn’t actu­ ally work for Shelter, he only carried out a couple of collec­ tions for us and that’s it. “From what I can remember


IN 1995, while living in Burn­ ley Roiul, .Accrington, McHugh won £3,000 dam-


’ ages following a legal dispute with a national newspaper over false allegations (hat he was interested in “spanking”. Two investigative reporters posed as photographic models and ran an article accusing him of e.xploiting women. He spoke of his two-year night­ mare after the article had been published. But he said (he money would not compen­ sate him for losing his career, his home and his health.


he was a very placid man. We would never had dreamt that he could do anything like this.” I t is believed McHugh also


spent one year working as a part-time lecturer in photogra­ phy at Nelson and Colne Col­ lege. An ex-colleague, who wishes to remain anonymous, described him as an “exempla­ ry teacher and brilliant with students”. Bizarrely, just a week before


his callous bomb threats closed 14 Tesco stores across the UK, the blackmailer wrote to the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times making “a plea for a return to sanity”. His letter is reproduced below left.


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