Man charged with contaminating goods with blood at supermarkets in west London

Contaminated items at all three supermarkets were taken away for forensic examination. Credit: PA

A 37-year-old solicitor has appeared in court accused of injecting syringes filled with blood into food items at three supermarkets in west London. Leoaai Elghareeb, of Crabtree Lane, Fulham, indicated no plea at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday afternoon.

The court heard the defendant is alleged to have entered the Waitrose store at 7.30pm and started “throwing around” syringes filled with blood and injecting them into food items. Solicitor remanded in custody accused of contaminating food with blood. The precise contents of the blood are not known, the court heard.The defendant, who the court was told is a solicitor and a “man of previous good character”, is also accused of doing the same along with throwing eggs in the nearby Sainsbury’s store, and going on to inject more items in Tesco Express before being arrested.Following the incident, Hammersmith & Fulham Council advised shoppers to throw away anything bought from the three shops after 6pm on the same day.

Police are investigating inside Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Tesco on Fulham Palace road in West London

Hammersmith & Fulham Council also said the risk to the public is believed to be low.

Detective Chief Superintendent Owain Richards, in charge of policing the area, said: “Investigations are under way to understand what items have been contaminated, but we now know this includes food and non-food items.

Police say enquiries are ongoing to investigate what the items were contaminated with. Credit: PA