Man charged with food contamination at London grocery stores

A 37-year old man has been charged with contaminating or interfering with goods with intent at three supermarkets in West London. 

Leoaai Elghareeb, from Fulham, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today (27 August). 

Police said the charges relate to an incident which occured on the evening of Wednesday 25 August, after it was reported that the man visited three supermarkets in Fulham Palace Road W6 and injected items using a number of syringes.

The supermarkets included a Little Waitrose, Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco Express. 

Due to the nature of the crime, the retailers were ordered to undertake “a deep clean of their premises” and discard items in their shops. It is understood that the stores have not reopened since. 

Members of the public have also been advised by the local council to throw away any goods purchased in these stores after 6pm. 

Owain Richards, detective chief superintendent in charge of policing in Hammersmith and Fulham, said: “I acknowledge the public concern around this incident. Investigations are underway to understand what items have been contaminated, but we now know this includes food and non-food items.

“Enquiries are also ongoing to identify what the items have been contaminated with and this is subject to further forensic examination. We would ask people not to speculate until we have these results.”

He added: “At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that the suspect has been working as part of the group but detectives are keeping an open mind around the motive for these events.”