Elderly Brisbane Man Jailed Over Bomb Threats

John Gilbert Gordon, 81, pleaded guilty to charges including using the postal service to make a threat to kill. The elderly Brisbane man sent explosives and threatening letters to high-profile Australians has been jailed by a Brisbane judge. The District Court in Brisbane heard Gordon sent a series of threatening letters between 2007 and 2010.

The offending postal items were addressed to people including Prime Minister Julia Gillard, her predecessor Kevin Rudd, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby.

Some letters contained bullets connected to a detonator. None of them made it to their intended recipients but were instead opened by administration or mail room staff, the court heard.

Gordon had sent the mail because he was angry about various political and commercial issues. In several letters he threatened to bomb refugees, said he had poisoned the water supply of a motel he believed housed asylum seekers, and asserted the Vatican would be destroyed.

Gordon was arrested after forensic analysis of one of the letters revealed the impression of his name from other correspondence written on the same notepad. Police raided his house in Brisbane and found a cache of weapons as well as bullets and detonators that matched those sent in the mail.

In court, Gordon showed little emotion as his sentence was read out. Judge Brian Devereaux said Gordon’s conduct was mean, cowardly and a serious abuse of the postal service. He was jailed for two-and-a-half years, to be released after eight months.

source: aap