Crime
Benalmádena hotel worker given suspended sentence for attempting to contaminate food with bleach following lay-off
The defendant, who was a waitress at the hotel, was cuaght red-handed on her last day at work
A court has sentenced a former Benalmádena hotel waitress to a suspended one-year jail term for twice attempting to contaminate food with bleach.
According ... to the ruling, she did it out of spite, when her company did not renew her contract.
The incident happened at the end of May 2023, the Malaga Provincial Court heard.
The first incident took place on the morning of the 26th, when the defendant tampered with a bottle of milk in the bar area by pouring sodium hypochlorite (domestic bleach) into it. The drink was intended for consumption by the hotel staff.
Five days later, on 31 May, at around 9pm, just a few hours before her contract was due to officially end, the defendant poured a glass of bleach directly onto a tray containing yoghurt, pineapple and watermelon. This time, the food was to be served to the guests.
Several hotel guests caught her red-handed and raised the alarm, preventing any tourists from consuming the contaminated food and averting a serious risk to public health.
The defendant avoided a hearing trial by reaching an agreement with the prosecution. She fully admitted guilt and accepted a one-year prison sentence and a ban on holding public office. She accepted to pay the costs of all court proceedings.
As she has no previous criminal record and the sentence does not exceed two years, the court has agreed to suspend the prison sentence for a period of two years, conditional upon her not committing any further offences during that period. The ruling is now final.
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