Anthrax hoaxer case adjourned

The hoax caused a security alert in Cardiff Bay

A former chemistry teacher due to be sentenced on Monday for posting hoax anthrax letters containing flour will have to wait a further fortnight to learn his fate.

Nicholas Roberts, 50, was found guilty in February of attempting to cause a public nuisance by sending packages to public figures, including Welsh Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

Roberts claimed the letters were "conceptual artwork"

Roberts sent four letters in the wake of a major anthrax alert in the United States, which began following the 11 September terrorist attacks.

Roberts, an unemployed former chemistry teacher from the Riverside area of Cardiff, had also sent a hoax letter to travel writer Jan Morris.

At Cardiff Crown Court on Monday, three pyschiatrists disagreed over whether Roberts has a mental illness.

Roberts had claimed he was sending the packages as a "work of art".

Judge John Griffith QC, sitting at Cardiff Crown Court, said Roberts was "clearly a very strange man indeed".

Earlier this year, Roberts was sent for psychiatric assessment at Whitchurch Hospital in Cardiff to undergo tests before sentencing.

The hoax letters were sent in the wake of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington, and sparked a major security alert in Cardiff.

Spraying road signs

The court heard Roberts has a previous conviction for throwing four eggs at the Queen's car during a Royal visit three years ago.

He also had convictions for spraying road signs with black paint because they were written in English and not in Welsh.

At an earlier hearing, Roberts said he thought the letters were beneficial to society because they were pieces of "conceptual artwork".

As well as the letter sent to Mr Morgan and Jan Morris, Roberts sent two more packages to his own friends in October 2001.

Roberts told the court his actions would "benefit society" and denied doing it to cause a nuisance.

Rhodri Morgan: Received letter

Prosecuting counsel Peter Murphy said although the substance turned out to be flour, a major security operation had to be set up to intercept all post to the assembly in Cardiff Bay.

It had to be carried out by post office managers and police because it would have caused widespread panic among Royal Mail workers due to the climate of fear.

Three of the letters were found in Cardiff's main sorting office while the fourth was discovered in the offices of Ms Morris's publishers.