Boots pharmacist, 31, 'slipped laxative into trainee's water bottle while her back was turned to teach her a lesson'

• Shahan Mir, 34, was supervising Farah Abdulquader at a branch in Birmingham
• He allegedly added Lactulose to her water bottle when her 'back was turned'
• She suffered diarrhoea and vomiting, jurors at Birmingham Crown Court heard
• Mir denies a charge of causing a noxious thing to be taken with intent to annoy 

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Shahan Mir, 34, was supervising Farah Abdulquader when he allegedly added Lactulose to her drink when her 'back was turned.'

A pharmacist slipped a laxative into a trainee's water bottle at a Boots store to 'teach her a lesson', a court was told.

Shahan Mir, 34, was supervising Farah Abdulquader when he allegedly added Lactulose to her drink when her 'back was turned.'

Miss Abdulquader, working a shift at Boots on the Fort Retail Park in Erdington, Birmingham, spat the liquid out but later suffered diarrhoea and vomiting, jurors heard.

Prosecutor Andrew Baker said Mir, of Kings Heath, Birmingham, was working with Miss Abdulquader on March 21 last year when he allegedly spiked her drink as she went to see to a customer.

She then took a sip and realised it was excessively sweet and the water was not clear but yellow in colour, he said.

Suspicious about what had happened, she asked the shop security officer to look at CCTV footage which showed Mir removing the bottle and a few seconds later replacing it, the court heard.

The defendant was later interviewed and said he had asked Miss Abdulquader not to bring her own water on to the shop floor but she had continued to do so.

It is alleged Mir put about a millilitre of the laxative in the water, intending to show Miss Abdulquader 'the risks of what could happen.'

Mr Baker said: 'The prosecution say there was animosity between the two.

'His actions were at the very least foolish and, we would say, criminal.

'His intention was to annoy her at the very least.

'Whether it was some form of retribution or to teach her a lesson, it was an incredibly stupid and criminal thing to do.'

Mir, a pharmacist with ten years experience, denies a charge of causing a noxious thing to be taken with intent to annoy. 

The trial continues.