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Heartbroken and furious, Lee Osler, a factory worker, poisoned his ex-girlfriend by pouring Mr. Muscle bleach into her vodka after she broke up with him.
The incident happened at a children’s party two months after Sarah Sutherland, 34, ended their five-year relationship.
Upon drinking the lethal vodka, Sutherland said, “it tasted funny,” then puts it down to a cheap orange mixer.
The following day, she woke up with a pounding headache followed by diarrhea that made her sick in the next couple of days.
The poisoning was revealed after a counseling telephone call with Osler.
When the vicitm learned that this was caused by the father of her two children, she began suffering from panic attacks.
The 35-year-old suspect pleaded guilty at the Hull Crown Court to a charge of administering poison with intent to injure. The judge gave him an eight month suspended prison sentence to hang over his head for a couple of years plus an order that he should attend a building better relationships programme.
According to the Principal Crown advocate, Philip Evans, Sutherland described Osler as a loner who suffered from depression and anxiety.
In a phone conversation with a counselor, Osler confessed to following Sutherland wherever she goes.
Evans said, “He said he had put a chemical in her drink,” referring to Osler. He added, “During the course of the police interview he said his wife had a three-quarter litre bottle of vodka that was one quarter full. He said he had put 10ml of Mr Muscle bleach in her vodka. He said he did this to Sarah Sutherland as an act of revenge for the ending of the relationship when Osler went to her home for a children’s party. Miss Sutherland recalls him pouring her vodka in a glass and he mixed it with Coca Cola. She said he then poured her a vodka and orange which she said tasted funny. She put that down to the cheap orange juice mixer. She said she recalled the peculiar taste. She recalled the next day she had a headache. By the Monday and Tuesday, because this happened on Saturday, she was experiencing diahorrea.”
The incident forced Sutherland to request for a restraining order against Osler.
Robin Smith, a defense barrister said Osler accepts what he did was a “wretched and dangerous thing to do to someone he loved and still loves.”
“He believed the relationship did not break down because of his own problems, but that in some way it was her fault. He irrationally thought he should take revenge on her. He said it was not pre-planned. He is entirely remorseful. He is grateful it has not lead to more severe health problems.She recognised there was not something right with the drink but put it down to a cheap mixer. Any thoughts of a reconciliation with his partner, he recognises, are now over. He has not seen his children at all since the start of proceedings,” added Smith.
Judge David Tremberg told Osler, ” It is said in the reports you are willing to accept any advice from people prepared to give it to you. Well here is a piece of advice from me: If you do anything like this again you are going to get locked up for years.”
Taking into account Osler’s guilty plea, the judge stressed he was an isolated individual with no record of previous convictions. “This is your first and last chance,” he told Osler.
