Disabled nun ‘sent letters with white powder to politicians’
The letters were intercepted, three at a time on two separate occasions, at a mail screening centre and the powder was found to be non-hazardous, Harrow Crown Court was told.
The defendant, who is known as Sister Ruth Augustus, denies six counts of hoaxes involving noxious substances.
Mark Kimsey, prosecuting, said Augustus, 71, of Leyton, east London, accepts that she sent envelopes with letters in them but says police put the white powder in them.
He told the jury: “The issue is whether she herself put the white powder within the envelopes, and, if so, was it with the intention to induce the recipient to fear they were hazardous.
“Albeit this is a hoax, it’s a serious matter, when what was sent was white powder, with the intention to make the person believe they were receiving a noxious substance.”
Mr Kimsey said three envelopes were intercepted at a mail screening centre in east London on Jun 17 2011.
One was addressed to Mr Clegg and on the envelope was written “devil worshipping”, “freemason”, “sex with 30 plus women” and “your poor Catholic wife and children”.
The second was to Baroness Scotland, and had a swastika on it. The third was to Baroness Kennedy, and was endorsed with a swastika, and “stop these evil devil worshipping freemasons”.
The envelopes contained a gritty substance, but it was found they had already tested negative for anthrax, and specialist police found them to be non-hazardous.
On Dec 7, Augustus was arrested at a hotel in London and told police “It’s a load of lies”, Mr Kimsey said.
The court heard that Augustus told police during interview: “I’m Sister Ruth, a 71-year-old disabled nun.”
She also said: “I look like a terrorist, don’t I, working for a charity all over the world, with orphans?”
Asked why she had sent a letter to Mr Clegg, she said he “lied about all the tuition fees and everything else, keeping those Tory millionaires and rats in government”.
She added: “He boasted about all the women he’s had sex with. He’s an atheist singing hymns in the Albert Hall.”
The case continues.
