Man, 61, admits charges following 'controlled chemicals' incident in Yorkshire

Gert Meyers, 61, appeared at Hull Crown Court after police carried out a warrant on Oxford Street in Bridlington on April 11, following reports that chemicals were being kept inside the property.

Specialist officers and members of the Army’s Explosives Ordinance Disposal were sent to the scene.

The surrounding houses were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

At Friday’s hearing Mr Meyers admitted breaching a criminal behaviour order by possessing an amount of chemicals, which he was banned from doing in June 2017.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing 700mg of sodium nitrate, without a licence, contrary to section 3 of the Poisons Act.

The chemical, which is listed on the Home Office’s website as an “explosive precursor,” can be used to make fertilizers, pyrotechnics, smoke bombs and other explosives.

Mr Meyers pleaded not guilty to a third charge of possessing an amount of unlabelled chemicals that caused an obstruction to the public.

Judge John Thackray KC granted bail. He said the prosecution had seven days to say whether the pleas were acceptable. If they were he would adjourn for a report, prior to sentencing, if not, the not guilty count would proceed to trial.

Houses on Oxford Street were previously evacuated in 2017 when police swooped on Meyers' terraced property to remove “dangerous” substances.

The Belgian national was later sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.

Before sentencing he’d shown reporters around his makeshift laboratory in his garden shed.

He recounted how he became fascinated by entries on chemicals in an encyclopedia from the age of nine or ten.

And he complained that the authorities had given him a “soft” warning before turning up at his house, but had then “come down like a ton of bricks”. The Judge in the 2017 case said Mr Meyers had “demonstrated a contemptuous disregard for the licensing system”.