The hunt by British and Thai police for a blackmailer who threatened to poison food in a Tesco outlet if he was not given £2 million (Bt137 million) ended with the arrest of a British man, who said he needed the money to get a business started in Bangkok.

Alexander John Winstone, 36, said he had no accomplice.

Married to a Thai woman, the Briton said he simply wanted to settle down in Thailand and open an Internet cafe near the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre.

Winstone said he felt the giant retailer would have no problem paying the money because it was a very profitable business.

"Of course, I now realise that my actions were very wrong," Winstone said in a letter he wrote after his arrest.

He was nabbed at 8pm on Thursday just as he walked out of an Internet cafe in Soi Nana after he sent the seventh blackmail e-mail to a top executive of Tesco.

In it he threatened to poison food sold in the chain's outlet and then tell British media about the poisoning incident if he was not given £2 million. The e-mail also stated how the Tesco should pay the money via Internet banking.

"I now recognise that what I did was very misguided, a silly idea that I took too far. I would like to stress that it was never my intention to cause anybody any harm or hurt, and as I was working alone it was impossible for me to do so," a part of Winstone's letter said.

He also offered his apologies to the people of Thailand, Tesco and the Royal Thai and British police forces.

Thai police announced the arrest of Winstone yesterday.

"The threat involves a large amount of money. It has been big news in Britain," Deputy National Police Commissioner General Issaraphan Sanitwong na Ayutthaya said.

Britain's Scotland Yard alerted Thai Police after investigations showed six blackmails had been sent from five Internet cafes in Bangkok's Soi Nana. Recordings from a closed-circuit TV system revealed Winstone had been the only customer at the Internet café from which the blackmails were sent.

Both Thai and British police subsequently scoured the Soi Nana area for the man captured in the recordings.

Winstone confessed on arrest.

He was living in an apartment in Soi Nana.

Issaraphan said Winstone would face up to five years in jail if convicted.

Andy Pearce of the British Embassy in Bangkok said prosecution of Winstone would proceed in line with Thai law. He declined to comment on whether he would be deported.

Winstone completed secondary education in Britain and worked as a driver there. He bought some stocks and had some savings when he came to Thailand.

He first travelled to Thailand in 2004, since when he has made several visits to the country.

Winstone told police that he had been running out of money when he decided to resort to blackmail.

Wisit Chuanpipatpong

The Nation