Haggis ’bomb backfires

Press, 24 February 1979, Page 2

Haggis ’bomb backfires

PA’ Rotorua Shops were cleared in Murapara on Thursday evening and a bomb explosives expert was called in to defuse a “bomb” — which turned out to be a practical joke. The “bomb,” addressed to the Murupara Borough Council’s Town Clerk. Mr David Patterson, a Scotsman, was actually a haggis sent to him by friends in Auckland.

After the parcel had been “defused,” Mr Patterson said that it was a practical joke that had backfired. The police in Rotorua were alerted after a council staff member decided that a parcel addressed to Mr Patterson resembled a bomb. A check was made and the area was cleared

“I was standing nearby when the box was opened,” Mr Patterson said. "We saw an alarm clock with wires running to circuit and to what looked like explosive material.

“When the assistant explosives inspector arrived he

said it looked like the real thing, and so we cleared the building to wait for the inspector. “He arrived about three hours later, confirmed that it looked real, and the whole area was cleared. He then fused the ‘bomb’,” Mr Patterson said.

“He probed the explosive substance and then someone suggested that it might be a haggis. I smelled it and confirmed that it was indeed haggis, and not an explosive,” he said. “The package had been postmarked from Milford, in Auckland, where I used to live.

“As soon as we knew What it was, the police asked if there was anyone in Auckland who would send me a haggis I said that several persons might,” Mr Paterson said

“I telephoned one of my friends there and was told he had sent it. He had thought I would qpen it and realise it was the haggis.”

The police are following up the incident.