Man Allegedly Used Syringes To Inject His Own Blood Into Food At Multiple Stores

A lawyer allegedly carried around a bucketful of syringes and went around injecting his blood into the food products at multiple stores in the U.K.

Leoaai Elghareeb, 37, was caught on CCTV footage injecting syringes into apples, packets of chicken tikka fillets and ready meals at three stores — Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Tesco — in west London. Elghareeb also allegedly threw eggs, cussed at the employees and pushed a security guard while at Sainsbury's.

A total of 21 syringes were recovered from the scenes after the rampage that took place in August 2021, according to the New York Post.

Footage of his actions, which cost the stores more than half a million dollars, was shown in court Tuesday.

"Mr Elghareeb walked down Fulham Palace Road carrying a bucket. It was filled with syringes, some of which had hypodermic needles attached. A number of those syringes were filled with blood - his own," Prosecutor Philip Stott said in the court, as per MyLondon.

The targeted stores were forced to throw away their produce and restock the supplies. The costs amounted to $281,442.38 (£207,000) for Waitrose, $194,426.37 (£143,000) for Sainsbury’s and $159,024.64 (£117,000) for Tesco.

Elghareeb, pleaded not guilty to three counts of contaminating food and two counts of assault by beating by reason of insanity.

Psychiatrist Dr. Bradley Hillier said at a court hearing this week that Elghareeb believed there was a device implanted in his brain and that he was living inside a simulation similar to “The Truman Show.”

Hillier said Elghareeb also thought he could contact the “real police” if he committed brazen and outlandish acts.

“I don't think he appreciated that he thought it was morally or legally wrong because he psychotically believed that he would get in touch with the real police who would help him to get this implant out of his brain,” Hillier said in court, according to Yahoo! News.

Defending prosecutor Kyri Argyropoulos said that Elghareeb “was not of a fit and sane mind” while carrying out the acts at the stores.

"This behavior was bizarre. It was odd: the syringes, the eggs, the flowerpot," Argyropoulos said. "You may recall one of the witnesses shouted out, 'are you okay?' Face to face this wasn't a situation of danger of aggression, it was more concern. People saw this man, with bags under his eyes, crouching down at the roots of a tree on Fulham Palace road and saw he was not ok. This was not the acts of someone who may feel is of a fit and sane mind.”

Court sessions are expected to continue.