A female individual has been acquitted of the accusation of contaminating coworkers’ instant coffee with crushed Viagra pills.
62-year-old Karen Beale, who was known for her desire to assist rather than cause harm, was acquitted by a jury consisting of seven men and five women at Canterbury Crown Court.
Beale, a previous worker at a factory, alleged that she was framed after being caught on camera inspecting a jar of instant coffee. The police later discovered that the coffee had been contaminated with sildenafil, a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction under the brand name Viagra, and a drug for high cholesterol.
Beale informed the jury that she had examined a Nescafé Blend 37 coffee jar at the direction of the general manager of Envirograf, a Dover-based factory that produces fire protection items, during her employment there.
Between November 2017 and September 2018, she was charged with two counts of trying to administer a harmful substance with the intention of causing harm, distress or irritation.
Beale expressed gratitude to the jury upon being released from the defendant’s seat.
At the conclusion of the case, Judge Simon Taylor KC ruled for the confiscation and disposal of the coffee.
In September 2018, Beale was taken into custody, however, it took over five years for her case to be brought to trial.
After the jury delivered their verdicts, Taylor informed them that the delay was partly caused by the Covid pandemic. During a hearing before the trial in December of last year, the judge had acknowledged that the court needed to apologize to Ms. Beale for the extended wait.
During the trial, it was revealed that she was surreptitiously recorded supposedly tampering with a jar of instant coffee in September 2018. The hidden camera had been hidden in the spine of a lever arch file, after the company’s accountant, Katrina Gravenor, noticed an odd taste, blue and white particles, and a sludgy substance in her drink.
“In Nescafé, this is not what you would typically anticipate,” stated prosecutor Matthew Hodgetts as the trial of Beale began.
During the 13-minute video, Beale was shown wearing blue gloves while handling a jar and intermittently shaking it. Despite the chemicals not being harmful, the prosecution argued that she had the intention and expectation of causing an impact.
Beale, who had lived in Dover but later moved to Shropshire, had previously worked as therapist based in Faversham and then her home. In a character reference provided to the court, a former client described her as someone with “integrity and compassion” who would “help people, not harm”.
During her trial, Beale refuted any involvement in tampering with the coffee and stated she had no motive to do so. She explained that the general manager, Paul Ackerman-Mond, had informed her about Gravenor’s concerns and requested her to monitor the coffee.
During his final statement to the jury, her lawyer contended that the camera recording was not obtained from an unbiased, uninvolved source.
Ben Irwin asked the jury about the lack of footage showing how the substance ended up in the coffee. He questioned how the contaminants could have entered the coffee and why, despite having extensive footage, there was no evidence of anything being added to the coffee.
Karen Beale is observed closely examining the coffee, which aligns perfectly with her situation.
Source: theguardian.com
