UK: Man charged over suspicious vaccine plant package

Bomb scare leads to evacuation disrupting work in plant

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) – A UK court charged a man on Saturday for sending a suspicious package to a Welsh COVID-19 vaccine production plant.

Anthony Collins, 53, from Chatham, Kent, appeared at Medway court and was charged with “dispatching an article by post with the intention of inducing the belief it is likely to explode or ignite.”

Last Wednesday, his package arrived at the plant in Wrexham, north Wales. The plant is where AstraZeneca’s vaccine is put into vials. He was arrested by Kent police on Thursday morning and remanded in custody.

Bomb disposal experts from the Royal Logistics Corp "attended and examined the package to make sure it was safe to handle,” according to a statement by North Wales Police. The plant had to be evacuated, disrupting the work inside.

Kent police later said the package was “not a viable device” but nonetheless appeared to be intended as an explosive.

The man’s motives remain unclear. He was remanded in custody and will appear at Maidstone Crown Court on Feb. 26.

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