Former Hong Kong banker jailed in Australia over 'collar bomb' attack
Ex-Hong Kong resident jailed for 13½ years for breaking into teen's family home, attaching fake device to her and leaving ransom note
A former Hong Kong investment banker who chained a fake "collar bomb" to a Sydney teenager as part of a bizarre extortion plot was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison yesterday.
Madeleine Pulver, then 18, was alone at her family's mansion in August last year when fellow Australian Paul Peters walked in wearing a ski mask and carrying a baseball bat. He tethered a bomb-like device to her neck along with a ransom note and then slipped away.
It took a bomb squad 10 hours to remove the device, which contained no explosives.
Peters, 52, failed to convince the judge that his crime was the result of a meltdown sparked by a failed marriage and career. Instead, the judge said the once-successful businessman and father of three had shown no remorse, lied to police and was motivated by one thing: money.
"The offender intended to place the very young victim in fear that she would be killed," New South Wales District Court Judge Peter Zahra said. "The terror instilled can only be described as unimaginable."
Pulver hugged relatives after the sentence was read. Her father wiped away tears.
"I'm pleased at today's outcome and that I can now look to a future without Paul Peters' name being linked to mine," Pulver said outside court. "For me, it was never about the sentencing, but to know that he will not reoffend. And it was good to hear the judge acknowledge the trauma he has put my family and me through."
