A Bulgarian NHS doctor killed his partner’s father with poison and nearly killed her and her mother after putting a highly toxic substance in his family’s coffee, a High Court judge has ruled.
At the close of a hearing at the family court, Mr Justice Williams delivered the decision. The medic applied for an order that would allow him to visit his son.
The Times reported that it was discovered during the case that the man had poisoned his girlfriend and her parents using thallium. His mother also used the thallium as a reason to resist the contact order.
To protect children’s identities, the doctor has not been identified. He has never been charged by police in Bulgaria or here for the poisoning.
This unusual ruling was made by a family court because it was based on all the probabilities and not ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ as required in criminal courts.
After consuming a toxic substance in their family’s coffee, a doctor from the Bulgarian National Health Service (NHS) nearly committed suicide and poisoned his father.
A court found that the doctor had added thallium in a cup of coffee while he was in holiday with his partner, his parents and their one-year old child.
While the other three adults were drinking from the cup, he drank instant espresso.
However, the latter succumbed to her illness, but two other women who had similar amounts of thallium were found to survive.
According to the court, the poison could have been obtained from a doctor or via the internet. It was more likely that the poison was ingested orally.
Although it was claimed that his primary goal was to kill the grandparents’, he vigorously disputed evidence that he had poisoned their coffee.
The court heard that he didn’t stop his partner from drinking a cup when he noticed it.
The family returned to the UK when the doctor claimed that the death of the grandfather was due to a stroke. However, poisoning was not diagnosed in the case after treatment by different hospitals.
However, Mr Justice Williams stated that the civil standard for proof is not applicable to him. “The mother has proven that it’s more likely than not the father caused the introduction of the thallium in the coffees,” said the author.
He also stated that his father did not assist with the treatment of the three children and tried to deflect attention from himself and thallium poisoning to blame for the illness.
He said, “En conclusion,” “Why the father did it I do not know.” Only he knows.