'No scientific validity' in bomb detector fraud trial

A BUSINESSMAN accused of selling useless bomb detectors to Iraq and other war zones was filmed giving sales talks which had "no scientific validity whatsoever," the Old Bailey heard this week.

Jim McCormick, 56, of Hambridge near Langport, allegedly used technology found in a £13 novelty golf ball finder to create devices priced at up to £27,000.

McCormick produced lavish brochures boasting his machines could detect tiny quantities of explosives from a distance of up to three miles, it is claimed.

Jurors were shown a video presentation made by McCormick in which he talked about "a very simple circuit board that acts like a radio receiver".

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Prosecution expert David Last, Emeritus Professor at the University of Wales, described the explanation as "incomprehensible".

He said: "To me it was a jumble of technical phrases and disconnected sentences. In my judgement it had no scientific validity whatsoever."

Professor Last said there was no power source and no components that would make the device a radio receiver.

"Nor was there any detector," he added. "Every radio receiver requires a detector, something which converts the radio signals. There was no detector.

Referring to the aerial that extended out of one of the devices, he said: "It isn't an antenna unless it is connected to a radio receiver. It is no more an antenna than a six-inch nail."

The devices were touted as being suitable for use at customs checkpoints, military bases and nuclear installations, it is claimed.

They were also said to be capable of finding traces of drugs, ivory and other contraband in quantities smaller than a human hair.

It was even claimed they could "bypass all concealment methods", finding targets through walls and up to 30ft underground.

McCormick allegedly offered three machines for sale through his Broadcast and Telecom Ltd and ATSC firm, based in an old dairy at Sparkford near Yeovil, between 2007 and 2012.

They were marketed as the ADE – or Advanced Detection Equipment – models 101, 650 and 651.

McCormick denies three counts of making an article for use in fraud.

The trial continues.