Plutonium ordered by post: "Nerd" faces ten years in prison

Sydney (Australia) - Some people collect stamps, others coins and still others plutonium. That's right, plutonium! Australian Emmanuel Lidden (24) had an unusual hobby: he wanted to own all the elements in the periodic table - including the radioactive ones.

In August 2023, there was a major operation at Emmanuel Lidden, during which the hazardous material was seized.
In August 2023, there was a major operation at Emmanuel Lidden, during which the hazardous material was seized.  © DAVID GRAY / AFP

Lidden must now stand trial and faces up to 10 years in prison, as the Guardian reports.

He was discovered in August 2023 when the Australian authorities discovered a delivery addressed to his parents' house in Sydney.

The plutonium it contained triggered a large-scale emergency response. Firefighters, police, paramedics and the Australian Border Force (ABF) arrived to secure the dangerous material.

Lidden had simply ordered the radioactive material via an American science website.

The 24-year-old has already pleaded guilty to breaching Australia's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act. Judge Leonie Flannery will hand down the verdict on April 11.

Is the Australian an innocent collector or a criminal?

Despite the small quantity, the court considered the plutonium to be very dangerous.
Despite the small quantity, the court considered the plutonium to be very dangerous.  © DAVID GRAY / AFP

His lawyer John Sutton vehemently defended the supposedly harmless "knowledge nerd" and explained that his client had no malicious intentions whatsoever.

"He did not introduce or possess these items with malicious intent ... they were offenses committed out of sheer naivety," Sutton told the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney on Friday.

The prosecution took a different view, arguing that anyone importing radioactive material was creating a dangerous market for it that might not otherwise have existed.