THE GUARDIAN – A woman mixed ground-up Viagra tablets into instant coffee in an attempt to poison her colleagues, a court has heard.
Karen Beale, 62, was employed as a cleaner at Envirograf, a factory that makes fire protection products in Dover, when she was filmed allegedly tampering with a jar of Nescafé, Canterbury crown court was told at the start of her trial.
The camera was set up after complaints about the coffee she was making, the jury heard. These included a strange taste, blue and white specks and a slurry.
In the footage, Beale could be seen wearing latex gloves to shake the coffee jar.
After police were alerted, officers found two coffee jars containing sildenafil – an erectile dysfunction treatment sold under the brand name Viagra – and a medication for high cholesterol.
“Not what you would expect to be in Nescafé,” the prosecutor Matthew Hodgetts told the court.
The contaminated jars were found in the offices of two of Beale’s female colleagues: Katrina Gravenor, the firm’s accountant, and the company secretary, Jean Smith.
Beale, who had worked at the company for seven years, denies two charges of attempting to administer a poison or other destructive or noxious thing with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy between July 2017 and September 2018.
She told police she was the victim of malicious allegations and that she had been inspecting the coffee in the covert footage, the court heard …
