WA man who sprayed hot chilli into crowd of Bunnings shoppers jailed
Paul Andrew Hart, 52, admitted to taking the chilli spray to the Bunnings store when he attended with a friend and his son on the Anzac Day public holiday last year.
He later told police he was intending to disperse fart spray as a joke but mistakenly picked up Satan's Spit instead, which caused burning eyes, noses and sore throats to 15 people, 11 of whom required treatment in hospital for their injuries. Two victims were children.
Satan's Spit is used on food and comes with an extreme heat warning, and is described as: 'One of our hottest (and more dangerous) products, please handle with care!'
'Spray with caution as it can get travel through the air and get in eyes. You've been warned.'
The court was told at the time of the incident, shoppers were unaware of what they had been sprayed with so they were made to strip outside of hospital and forced to take decontamination showers.
Bunnings closed its doors for the day, causing a loss of $16,000 in income, while also paying thousands of dollars to eight affected employees in workers' compensation claims.
Victims were also forced to pay thousands for ambulances to the nearby hospital.
On Tuesday, Hart was sentenced over the prank with Perth District Court Judge Felicity Zempilas telling him she did not accept the claim he thought he had innocuous fart spray in his pocket and not Satan's Spit as he was seen on CCTV repeatedly looking at the product.
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Perth Now
a day ago
- Perth Now
Satan's spit from Bunnings incident ‘popular' with chefs
It took one phone call and a 20-minute drive to find a bottle of Satan's Spit — the same chilli spray that put almost a dozen people in hospital and a man behind bars for more than a year after it was unleashed in a Bunnings store. The 30ml bottle of liquid made from chilli extract and alcohol is available from online retailers and stores across Australia, including a small shop tucked inside Morley's Coventry Village shopping centre. Phillip Botha, who runs the Spice Wagon & Latino Grocer, said the 'popular' product could cause serious harm if used incorrectly. 'It's not the top seller in the shop, but it's popular more so with restaurants, I found quite a few restaurants use it for spicy chicken-wing challenges and stuff like that,' he told The West Australian. 'The odd person will come and say they heard of it, and they will ask is it really hot enough for their chicken or steak at home or whatever. Bottles of "Satans Spit" hot chilli spray available at The Spice Wagon & Latino Grocer inside Coventry Village in Morley. Credit: Jackson Flindell / The West Australian 'It's one of those products that I keep behind a locked cabinet, because I don't like selling that to somebody that I think is too young — it's not a product you want to prank with as we know.' In a case that has made headlines around the country, Paul Hart, 52, was jailed for 16 months on Tuesday after he sprayed Satan's Spit inside Northam Bunnings on Anzac Day last year. The black liquid costs just $22.95 at the Morley shop and is sold in a pump bottle, which releases a fine spray. It has a Scoville rating — a unit of measurement of spiciness — of 1.8 million. In comparison, pepper spray usually rates between 2 million and 5 million. On the lower end of the scale, jalapeno peppers rate between 2500 and 10,000. Hart purchased the item online and argued he intended to use it on chicken wings before he sprayed it inside the hardware store — sparking initial fears of a serious chemical spill when 11 people fell unwell and needed hospital treatment. Hart claimed he intended to prank people by deploying a fart spray called Liquid Ass instead of the chilli substance, an argument that was rejected by Judge Felicity Zempilas, who described his offending as 'deliberate'. After learning of the Bunnings incident, Mr Botha sympathised with Hart's victim's. He said while Satan's Spit wasn't the spiciest product available at his shop, it was still 'painful immediately' when consumed or sprayed near someone's face. 'Because it's virtually pure chilli extract, it stings tremendously, straight away. It doesn't necessarily last as long as others, but it stings immediately,' he said. 'You get nauseous, you battle to breathe and your eyes well up and so does your blood rate. 'It's used by chefs mostly as some of the heat (from fresh chilli) can dissipate during the cooking process, hence, it's very, very useful, from that point of view that you can literally just spray it before you put it on the table. 'I had some chefs literally in the shop, telling me that they made a mistake — they actually sprayed it on their work benches, where extractor fans were, and the chefs had to run out of the kitchen. 'With sauces you literally drip them over your food, whereas the (Satan's Spit) is designed to be a fine mist spray.' CCTV obtained after Hart's sentencing showed the former mine site chef glancing at the black bottle twice before spraying it multiple times, leaving customers unable to breathe and one person believing they were going to die. Hart, who was charged with causing a poison to be administered, claimed he spent the morning before the offence drinking Wild Turkey, cider and champagne. Judge Zempilas, in her sentencing remarks, told Hart: 'You deliberately brought a noxious and a dangerous product to a public place. You knew which substance you released and were waiting to watch its impact. 'I find that you had no plausibly legitimate reason to take Satan's Spit with you that day. You had not yet used the product but you knew it would be very, very hot.'
West Australian
2 days ago
- West Australian
Satans Spit: Shop owner says chilli spray that injured 11 people in Bunnings incident is ‘popular' with chefs
It took one phone call and a 20-minute drive to find a bottle of Satans Spit — the same chilli spray that put almost a dozen people in hospital and a man behind bars for more than a year after it was unleashed in a Bunnings store. The 30ml bottle of liquid made from chilli extract and alcohol is available from online retailers and stores across Australia, including a small shop tucked inside Morley's Coventry Village shopping centre. Phillip Botha, who runs the Spice Wagon & Latino Grocer, said the 'popular' product could cause serious harm if used incorrectly. 'It's not the top seller in the shop, but it's popular more so with restaurants, I found quite a few restaurants use it for spicy chicken-wing challenges and stuff like that,' he told The West Australian. 'The odd person will come and say they heard of it, and they will ask is it really hot enough for their chicken or steak at home or whatever. 'It's one of those products that I keep behind a locked cabinet, because I don't like selling that to somebody that I think is too young — it's not a product you want to prank with as we know.' In a case that has made headlines around the country, Paul Hart, 52, was jailed for 16 months on Tuesday after he sprayed Satans Spit inside Northam Bunnings on Anzac Day last year. The black liquid costs just $22.95 at the Morley shop and is sold in a pump bottle, which releases a fine spray. It has a Scoville rating — a unit of measurement of spiciness — of 1.8 million. In comparison, pepper spray usually rates between 2 million and 5 million. On the lower end of the scale, jalapeno peppers rate between 2500 and 10,000. Hart purchased the item online and argued he intended to use it on chicken wings before he sprayed it inside the hardware store — sparking initial fears of a serious chemical spill when 11 people fell unwell and needed hospital treatment. Hart claimed he intended to prank people by deploying a fart spray called Liquid Ass instead of the chilli substance, an argument that was rejected by Judge Felicity Zempilas, who described his offending as 'deliberate'. After learning of the Bunnings incident, Mr Botha sympathised with Hart's victim's. He said while Satans Spit wasn't the spiciest product available at his shop, it was still 'painful immediately' when consumed or sprayed near someone's face. 'Because it's virtually pure chilli extract, it stings tremendously, straight away. It doesn't necessarily last as long as others, but it stings immediately,' he said. 'You get nauseous, you battle to breathe and your eyes well up and so does your blood rate. 'It's used by chefs mostly as some of the heat (from fresh chilli) can dissipate during the cooking process, hence, it's very, very useful, from that point of view that you can literally just spray it before you put it on the table. 'I had some chefs literally in the shop, telling me that they made a mistake — they actually sprayed it on their work benches, where extractor fans were, and the chefs had to run out of the kitchen. 'With sauces you literally drip them over your food, whereas the (Satans Spit) is designed to be a fine mist spray.' CCTV obtained after Hart's sentencing showed the former mine site chef glancing at the black bottle twice before spraying it multiple times, leaving customers unable to breathe and one person believing they were going to die. Hart claimed he spent the morning before the offence drinking Wild Turkey, cider and champagne. Judge Zempilas, in her sentencing remarks, told Hart: 'You deliberately brought a noxious and a dangerous product to a public place. You knew which substance you released and were waiting to watch its impact. 'I find that you had no plausibly legitimate reason to take Satans Spit with you that day. You had not yet used the product but you knew it would be very, very hot.'
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
WATCH: Moment FIFO worker let off pepper spray inside WA Bunnings
Moment man lets off pepper spray inside Northam Bunnings A former mine site chef who claimed he was planning a fart prank at a Bunnings store when he instead sprayed a chilli substance called 'Satan's Spit' — injuring multiple people, including children — has been jailed. The Northam store, in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region, was evacuated on Anzac Day last year amid fears of a dangerous chemical spill. Two children were among the 15 people affected, with 11 taken to hospital for treatment. They suffered burning sensations in their eyes and nose, sore throats and coughing. Paul Andrew Hart sprayed a chilli substance called 'Satan's Spit' at a Bunnings store. Credit: Supplied CCTV footage shows father of three Paul Andrew Hart enter the store wearing a black T-shirt, shorts and thongs. Shortly after, staff and customers are seen coughing, and covering their mouths and noses as they head for the exit. Hart, 52, claimed he intended to spray 'Liquid Ass' as a joke, but instead used 'Satan's Spit', which was also in his pocket. But WA District Court Judge Felicity Zempilas said the footage showed him look down at the pepper spray twice, including just before he used it. 'Even if you had taken a bottle of Satan's Spit and a bottle of fart spray, it would have been immediately clear to you which one you had in your hand on either of those occasions when you looked at it, because those bottles appear totally different,' she said. The incident cost Bunnings an estimated $16,000 in lost earnings and $3048 in workers' compensation. Customers and staff suffered injuries. Credit: Supplied 'You knew what kind of substance you'd released and you were waiting to observe its impacts,' Judge Zempilas said. 'I find that you intended, for whatever reason, to annoy others in the store that day, with this noxious substance.' The online product description of Satan's Spit says it is one of their 'hottest and most dangerous products'. 'Spray with caution, as it can travel through the air and get in eyes. Use in small doses,' the description reads. Hart was arrested the next day and told police he had bought the product six weeks earlier but had not used it or read the label. He said he had woken up that day from distressing dreams, and began drinking alcohol in the morning before going to the shops. It cost Bunnings an estimated $16,000 in lost earnings. NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw Credit: News Corp Australia One victim said she suffered an asthma attack and was embarrassed at having to go through the decontamination shower process at the hospital. Another person described the ordeal as 'traumatic'. A teenage victim said of the incident: 'It stole my peace.' 'She's still grappling with the fear and the humiliation and the trauma,' Judge Zempilas said. Hart pleaded guilty to wilfully and unlawfully, with intent to injure or annoy, cause poison or other noxious thing to be administered to or taken by another. Judge Zempilas sentenced Hart to 16 months in prison. He must serve eight months behind bars before he can be eligible for parole.
