A man arrested after barricading himself and his partner and six children in a wine cellar in Austria has been revealed as a former London IT worker-turned conspiracy theorist.
Tom Landon, 54, was arrested after he pepper-sprayed a pair of government officials called out to inspect the cellar in the Austrian village of Obritz.
Neighbours called police after hearing children’s voices coming from the cellar.
Officers found Landon inside with his 40-year-old partner and their children aged between seven months and five-years-old, as well as several guns.
Erich Greil, deputy mayor of the village, said Landon had only lived there “a short time”.
He told the Sunday Times: “Before that, he apparently lived in England. I think he worked in the IT sector.”
Landon is the author of several books, including two with the titles Red Sow and Dirty Justice.
One gives his 2019 address as East Finchley in north London.
Landon was arrested by police and later released but is expected to be charged with resisting state authority.
His partner reportedly speaks both English and German but her background is not known.
The family is thought to have lived in the cellar for the past nine months. It was fitted out with water and power supplies as well as doors and windows but was deemed unsuitable for human habitation.
Local journalists said Landon was linked to the Austrian offshoot of the German Reichsbürger movement which rejects the legitimacy of the state and is drawn to various conspiracy theories.
Late last year, dozens of its members in Germany including a prince, a serving soldier and a former MP were arrested and accused of conspiring to overthrow the country’s democratically elected government.
The Kronen Zeitung reported that Landon was “known to officials” and “was firmly convinced of bizarre conspiracy theories”.
Stefan Loidl, of the Austrian police, said the children had been taken to hospital and examined in the presence of their mother then released. They appeared to have been born in Britain and were not registered in Austria.
