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Gary Bolton guilty of selling fake bomb detectors Gary Bolton guilty of selling fake bomb detectors
(35 minutes later)
A businessman has been found guilty of making and selling fake bomb detectors.A businessman has been found guilty of making and selling fake bomb detectors.
The Old Bailey heard the devices made by Gary Bolton, 47, were nothing more than boxes with handles and antennae.The Old Bailey heard the devices made by Gary Bolton, 47, were nothing more than boxes with handles and antennae.
The prosecution said he sold them for up to £10,000 each, claiming they could detect explosives. The trial heard that the company had a £3m annual turnover selling the homemade devices.The prosecution said he sold them for up to £10,000 each, claiming they could detect explosives. The trial heard that the company had a £3m annual turnover selling the homemade devices.
Bolton, of Redshank Road in Chatham, Kent, had denied two charges of fraud. Sentencing has been adjourned.Bolton, of Redshank Road in Chatham, Kent, had denied two charges of fraud. Sentencing has been adjourned.
Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting, told the court Mr Bolton knew the devices - which were also alleged to be able to detect drugs, tobacco, ivory and cash - did not work but supplied them anyway to be sold to overseas businesses. Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting, told the court that Bolton knew the devices - which were also alleged to be able to detect drugs, tobacco, ivory and cash - did not work but supplied them anyway to be sold to overseas businesses.
They were made at Bolton's Kent home and at the offices of Global Technology Ltd. They were made at Bolton's home and at the premises of his company Global Technology Ltd, near Ashford.
Mr Whittam said one company X-rayed a device and found nothing inside the box.Mr Whittam said one company X-rayed a device and found nothing inside the box.
'Metal walls' 'Completely ineffectual'
He said tests on the detectors, carried out as far back as 2001, had suggested they performed no better than random searches for explosives.
Jurors found Bolton guilty of a charge of making an article for use in the course of fraud and one of supplying an article for use in the course of fraud between January 2007 and July last year.Jurors found Bolton guilty of a charge of making an article for use in the course of fraud and one of supplying an article for use in the course of fraud between January 2007 and July last year.
Bolton claimed that the devices worked with a range of 766 yards (700m) at ground level and as far as two and half miles (4km) in the air and said they were effective through lead-lined and metal walls, water, containers and earth.Bolton claimed that the devices worked with a range of 766 yards (700m) at ground level and as far as two and half miles (4km) in the air and said they were effective through lead-lined and metal walls, water, containers and earth.
But "double-blind" tests on a Mole device as early as 2001 showed it had a successful detection rate of 9%, with Bolton sent the test results. But "double-blind" tests on a Mole detector, later remarketed as the GT200, showed it had a successful detection rate of 9%, with Bolton sent the test results.
Mr Whittam said tests on the detectors, carried out as far back as 2001, had suggested they performed no better than random searches for explosives.
In 2010 a Home Office defence expert tested the GT200 at the request of the Office of Fair Trading and found it had "no credibility as an explosive detector" because it had no functioning parts.
The expert carried out further tests after Bolton's arrest on some plastic cards which, when put inside the handle of the detector, purported to allow testing for various substances.
A card marked "human" was found to be two credit card-sized pieces of plastic with a piece of paper inside, the court heard.
Further stringent "double-blind" tests carried out on the GT200 by Dr Michael Sutherland of the University of Cambridge found that it worked successfully twice in 24 tests searching for TNT, which was less than the probability of finding the explosives at random.
Bolton was invited to attend the tests in October 2010, but did not show up.
In his report, part of which was read to the court, Dr Sutherland said the device was "completely ineffectual as a piece of detection equipment".
Sentencing was adjourned to a later, unfixed date and Bolton was released on conditional bail.Sentencing was adjourned to a later, unfixed date and Bolton was released on conditional bail.