An Austrian man arrested last week after barricading himself with his partner and their six young British-born children in a wine cellar has been named as Tom Landon, a conspiracy theorist and the author of several self-published books denouncing the country’s government.
Landon, 54, fired pepper spray at two local government officials, injuring them both, as they carried out a routine inspection on Thursday afternoon of the cellar in Obritz, a village of a few hundred people in wine-growing country, north of Vienna, near the Czech border.
The officials had been tipped off by neighbours, who had reported hearing children’s voices coming from the building, which had several CCTV cameras. It went suddenly quiet whenever anyone approached.
Police were called and when they stormed the
