Hate writer 'turns himself in'

Cleveland Police appealed for help in catching the writer

A man has handed himself in to police, claiming to be responsible for a two-year poison pen campaign against shops on Teesside.

Cleveland Police said a 45-year-old man claiming to be "Soldier David" walked into a police station in Thornaby on Wednesday.

Police made an appeal on Monday for help in catching the person behind a series of chilling letters and phone calls in which he threatened to murder shop staff.

The anonymous writer - who sometimes signed himself "Soldier David" - also threatened to snatch a child on Hallowe'en and called for a "Dunblane-type massacre".

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: "A 45-year-old man handed himself in to Thornaby Police Station at around 2pm yesterday, claiming to be the letter writer Soldier David."

Officers searched the man's home and took away items for forensic examination.