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Woman Arrested After 'Deliberately' Putting Needles Into Supermarket Strawberries

Woman Arrested After 'Deliberately' Putting Needles Into Supermarket Strawberries

Police in Australia launched a huge investigation following reports of sewing needles found inside fruit

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

An Australian woman has been arrested in connection to a number of needles being found in strawberries.

The so-called 'strawberry scare' spread across social media in September in Queensland after several reports of sewing needles being found hidden inside the fruit.

The woman, reportedly in her 50s, is now set to face 'unspecified charges' later today and appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday.

There were over 100 reports of sewing needles being found inside strawberries.
PA

As a result of the scare, Australia government rushed through new, harsh rules for anyone caught tampering with food, with those found guilty facing a maximum prison term of 10 to 15 years.

Aussie Prime Minister Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: "It's not funny, putting the livelihoods of hard-working Australians at risk, and you are scaring children. And you are a coward and a grub."

Adding that he would 'throw the book' at whoever was responsible.

The government in Queensland were forced to issue a warning and were offering a $100,000(AUSD) (£55,417) to anyone who had information that led to an arrest and conviction.

In a statement, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk: "Whoever is behind this is not just putting families at risk across Queensland and the rest of Australia - they are putting an entire industry at risk.

"I would urge anyone with information that may be relevant to this incident in any way to contact police as soon as possible."

A massive investigation was launched after farmers were left with no choice but to dump tonnes of strawberries and stores were forced to pull them from sales. In total, coops dealt with around 100 reports of needles inside berries, but many were suspected to be copycats incidents or hoaxes carried out by idiots hoping for a bit of viral social media fame.

Scares such as this can hit Australia's multimillion-dollar fruit industry hard, so Queensland Police Service pulled together an investigation combining 'multiple government, law enforcement and intelligence agencies'.

In a statement, the QPS said 'investigations were still ongoing' and urged anyone with any other information to get in touch.

Featured Image Credit: Queensland Police

Topics: World News, Australia