Accused of putting Viagra in colleague's coffee

Karen Beale, a 62-year-old former factory cleaner, has been cleared of charges of poisoning her colleagues with instant coffee mixed with crushed Viagra tablets.

Beale, who was found not guilty by a jury of seven men and five women at Canterbury Crown Court, said she was happy to finally be cleared. 

Beale had been arrested after being filmed on footage checking a coffee jar that police later determined contained sildenafil (an impotence treatment sold under the brand name Viagra) and a medication for high cholesterol. 

Beale, who worked at Envirograf, a factory in Dover that produces fire protection products, said she was checking the Nescafé Blend 37 coffee jar "on the instructions of the general manager." She had denied two counts of administering a poison or other destructive or noxious thing with intent to injure or annoy between November 2017 and September 2018.

Following the court's verdict, Beale was released and thanked the jury. At the conclusion of the case, Judge Simon Taylor KC ordered the coffee to be destroyed.

Beale was taken into custody in September 2018, but it took more than five years for a decision to be reached in her case. Following the rulings, Taylor noted that the delay was partly due to the impact of the pandemic, which he described as "something unexpected at Nescafé."

In the 13 minutes of footage, Beale could be seen picking up the jar while wearing blue latex gloves and occasionally shaking it. Although none of the chemicals were toxic, the prosecution alleged that she "hoped and intended for it to have an effect."

Testifying in court, Beale claimed she did not tamper with the coffee and had no reason to do so. She said that general manager Paul Ackerman-Mond had informed her of concerns raised by Gravenor and asked her to "keep an eye on" the coffee. Her lawyer argued to the jury that the camera footage did not come from an "impartial, unconnected" source.

News Source: Taner Bildik