Australian ‘collar bomb’ suspect arrested

Paul “Doug” Peters was arrested near Louisville by the FBI. He had been staying at the home of his former wife outside La Grange, Kentucky, near Louisville and was taken into custody without incident.

Mr Peters has been arrested in connection with the “neck bomb” or collar bomb hoax which gripped the world last month. An Australian teenager had a device strapped to her neck which she was told was a bomb – but it turned out to be a dud.

Madeleine Pulver’s ordeal began when a man in a balaclava broke into her home in Sydney on 3 August. He attached a device to her neck that he claimed was a bomb he could detonate by remote control, and left behind a ransom note.

Hoax bomb

It is believed the ransom note was aimed at Ms Pulver’s father Bill, a wealthy chief executive of a company that makes speech recognition software.

The terrified girl was also told that the device had a microphone allowing her conversations to be monitored by her attacker – but she summoned help anyway. After a 10-hour ordeal, officers were able to remove the device, which turned out to be harmless.

Mr Peters, who authorities believe left Australia on 8 August, will appear in court in Louisville on Tuesday. Australian authorities will seek to have him extradited to face charges in the bomb hoax, the New South Wales Police Force said in a statement.