Daifallah defended himself in court

A chemist who contaminated food and wine in Gloucestershire supermarkets with his own urine and faeces has been sent to prison for nine years.

Sahnoun Daifallah, 42, of Bibury Road, Gloucester, was found guilty of four counts of contaminating goods at four businesses in May 2008.

Judge Carol Hagen said at the hearing in March that she found him to be "a potentially very dangerous man".

Daifallah, who defended himself, had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Bristol Crown Court had heard the Algerian-born chemist sprayed the mixture in the Air Balloon Pub, in Birdlip, near Cheltenham on 14 and 16 May.

Deportation proceedings

He then moved on to the Waterstones bookstore in Cirencester, Tesco in Quedgley and Morrisons in Abbeydale.

Your actions showed a callous disregard for public safety

Judge Carol Hagen

The court heard shoppers and staff in both stores saw Daifallah with a black laptop computer with a vapour coming from the bag being sprayed on the shelves.

The cost of damaged products and lost business due to resulting store closures was estimated at £700,000.

When police searched his house they found stockpiles of the mixture and plans to spread it in other cities including Bristol and Birmingham.

Daifallah, who had fantasies about biological weapons to cause public alarm, was also found guilty of having an offensive weapon, namely a catapult with marbles.

Judge Carol Hagen sentenced him to concurrent sentences of three years, five years and two of nine years for the contamination offences and 12 months for possession of a weapon.

She added she had wanted to jail him indefinitely but the law would not allow her to.

"Your actions showed a callous disregard for public safety and you caused considerable alarm and anxiety," she said.

Proceedings to deport him are underway.