Overview

• Preston targeted schools, shopping centers, and other public venues across the UK with threatening letters and packages containing talcum powder.
• The hoax terror campaign lasted six weeks and caused widespread panic and evacuations.
• Preston was arrested in 2020 and linked to the crimes through DNA and fingerprint evidence.
• He pleaded guilty to 21 charges of sending a hoax substance and to charges related to a 1988 indecent assault.
• The sentences for both the hoax campaign and the assault will be served consecutively.