Elghareebs defence team has claimed that the solicitor was insane at the time of the incident.
A court in London is hearing a bizarre case of a man injecting his own blood in the food products kept in at least three supermarkets in west London. The man, Leoaai Elghareeb, has pleaded not guilty on the three counts of contaminating or interfering with goods with intent over a series of incidents which occurred in August last year.
In the latest update on the hearing, CCTV footage presented in the Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday showed Elghareeb entering Tesco Express, Little Waitrose and Sainsbury's Local on Fulham Palace Road in west London, carrying a bucketful of hypodermic needles.
The footage, carried by nearly every major British media outlet, showed the 37-year-old jabbing food in the ready meal section of stores - which had apples, packets of chicken tikka fillets - with a syringe on August 25 last year. He then moved towards another section of the shop with a second syringe between his teeth.
Elghareeb is then seen entering the nearby Tesco and Little Waitrose stores before police arrived on the scene. The incident took place between 7pm and 8pm, according to the time stamp on the CCTV footage.
Elghareeb is a practicing solicitor, who runs his own legal consultancy business.
The supermarkets incurred a loss of £500,000 as they had to throw away all the products as an anti-contamination measure.
The stores also asked all the customers present at that time to leave their stuff and evacuate the premises.
A total of 21 syringes were recovered following the incidents.
Elghareeb has also been charged with pushing a security guard and throwing a needle at a doctor in one of the stores. But his defence team has denied these two charges as well.
Elghareeb's defence team has claimed that the solicitor was insane at the time of the incident. A consultant forensic psychiatrist, Dr Bradley Hillier, who appeared before the court, said that Elghareeb was “severely psychotic” at the time of the incident, and incapable of seeing his actions were “legally and morally wrong”. Dr Hillier said Elghareeb told him he was burdened and tortured, according to Express.
Jurors are now set to decide whether Elghareeb was insane at the time of the incidents. The case is expected to be completed this week.