Three charged for 'hoax' e-mail

August 16, 2001

THREE people have been charged with forgery after allegedly sending hoax e-mails to an executive at a rival computer company who then suffered a breakdown and killed his daughter.

The charges against the un-named senior executives at AB Biomonitoring in Cardiff relate to messages that Philip Hall claimed sent him to do a business deal in India in July 2000. When he arrived in Delhi, he discovered he had been tricked.

Mr Hall, who had a history of mental illness, had a nervous breakdown after the “wild goose chase” and, on the day he returned, stabbed his daughter, Emma, 12, through the heart. At his trial he was cleared of murder on the ground of insanity and was ordered to be detained indefinitely at a medium-secure hospital.

Andrew Twomlow, solicitor for Mr Hall, criticised the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service. He said: “Mr Hall welcomes the charges, but is disappointed that more serious charges have not been brought.” He added that Mr Hall was considering a private prosecution.