South African man threatened foot and mouth attack on UK

Brian Roach, a 64-year-old businessman based in Johannesburg, was arrested at the weekend and appeared in court on Monday facing two charges of terrorism and could face life in prison if convicted.

Police have found no evidence he would have been capable of carrying out his threats.

Channel 4 News understands that Roach is also a flight instructor and either owns or had access to two small planes.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said authorities suspect Roach of “threatening to cause an outbreak of foot and mouth poisoning disease infecting all livestock in the UK”.

Police believe that Roach was seeking $4 million (£2.5m) not to start the outbreak and made several threats by letters and emails to British and US authorities.

In one of the emails sent to Defra last year, Roach wrote: “We have the expertise and resources to do this very effectively and will be able to devastate the industry in the UK which will cost billions to the economy. We will devastate your farms and then we will then take the problem to your co-conspirator the USA.”

Plight of Zimbabwe’s farmers

The married father-of-four’s threats appeared to be motivated by an antipathy towards land programmes in Zimbabwe, according to the (NPA), although there is no evidence to suggest he is a former national of the neighouring southern African county.

Roach said he wanted compensation for losses incurred by Zimbabweans because of the US, which he said influenced the situation in Zimbabwe with only its “own interest at heart”.

On 6 October last year, Roach wrote in another e-mail: “We are not habitual criminals but have been victim of a situation which was entirely out of our control and attributed to corrupt and incompetent politicians.”

Mhaga said Roach felt that British and US authorities did not do enough to prevent Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe from carrying out his seizure of white-owned commercial farms for blacks.

About 4,000 white farmers have been forced from their farms since 2000 in what Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe calls a campaign to put more land in the hands of impoverished blacks.

Joint investigation

Police said a six-month terror investigation by South African, British and US officials culminated with Roach’s arrest. US and British officials confirmed they had worked closely with the South Africans.

“This biological agent, if deployed, would have caused the destruction of property and resulted in major economic loss,” a police statement said. “This was therefore regarded as a very serious threat.”

The use of foot and mouth as a potential weapon is not new. During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union are believed to have weaponised such diseases.

Police charged Roach with terrorist activity and money laundering.

Police searched Roach’s home and other sites, but found no evidence he would have been capable of carrying out his threats.

His hearing was postponed until Friday, before he could enter a plea.

Roach was a director of an electrial company specialising in the sale of garage doors, based outside Johannesburg, but had not been actively involved in the day-to-day administration for nearly two years.

Noel Otten, Roach’s co-director of Brano, told Channel 4 News: “The company distances itself from Mr Roach’s alleged actions and places on record that it is in no way or manner connected with Mr Roach’s private business dealings nor did it have any prior knowledge of them.”