Man Jailed for COVID Vaccine Factory Bomb Scare

A man who sent a suspicious package to a COVID-19 vaccine factory in Wrexham, Wales, was jailed for two years and three months on November 24.

Following the sentencing, Kent Police released bodycam footage of the moment Anthony Collins, 54, of Chatham Hill, was arrested back in January.

In a statement, police said Collins had briefly halted manufacturing of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at the Wockhardt Factory.

Collins’s package was delivered by a postal worker on Wednesday, January 27, police said, and the staff member who received it immediately became suspicious and contacted police.

A precautionary evacuation of all buildings then occurred and bomb disposal experts were called in. A robot was used to move the item to a safe location before a controlled explosion was carried out. It was later confirmed the package did not contain a viable explosive.

“Various pieces of paper were removed from the parcel, including several pages from a science manual and a calculator. There was also a letter addressed to Collins and a receipt for a supermarket transaction,” police said.

CCTV showing the supermarket transaction was also obtained by police.

A search of the address where Collins was arrested revealed a science book with pages missing. The pages were the same as the ones in the parcel, police said.

Kent Police said in custody Collins admitted to sending the package and provided thorough details on what it contained.

“Despite sending the package, he denied that he had intended to create a bomb scare and instead claimed that he believed the items he was posting would be useful to people working at the factory. He did, however, concede that he knew his actions might cause alarm,” police added.

Collins denied posting an article with the intention of inducing the belief it was likely to explode or ignite, but was found guilty following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court. Credit: Kent Police via Storyful