Man sentenced for steroid ‘prank’
Source:Global Times Published: 2017/11/19 19:03:39
A man sentenced to one year in jail for slipping male growth hormones into a female coworker's food saw the decision upheld, Chengdu Economic Daily reported.
The Chengdu Intermediate People's Court upheld an intentional injury conviction against the defendant surnamed Zhou after causing the victim serious liver damage from spiking her meals with steroids.
Over the course of the retrial beginning in August, Zhou maintained it was a prank that, despite lab tests proving otherwise, involved over-the-counter vitamins. The victim, surnamed Cao, told the court it was an act of revenge.
Zhou had been sentenced in May by a Gaoxin district court for his food tampering in 2015.
Surveillance footage taken on September 16 of that year showed Zhou dosing Cao's meals with what appears to be a vial of liquid.
"I had tasted something bitter in my food and water starting in April (2015)," Cao told the court. "But I didn't give it a second thought."
Cao was finally alerted by another colleague via text message saying that Zhou had been putting steroids in her food for about half a year.
Cao said she sought medical attention after noticing her voice had dropped in pitch and a suspicious increase in body hair.
She filed a police report and Zhou was arrested in November 2016.
Tests found that Cao had suffered significant liver damage from large doses of methyltestosterone, a synthetic steroid prescribed in treatments for androgen deficiencies but also abused by athletes as a performance enhancer.
Zhou claimed he had used vitamin B1."I was only playing a joke on her," he told the court.
"She had once made fun of me for taking vitamins to get rid of parasites, so I started adding them to her food and drinks," Zhou said.
Chengdu Economic Daily
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1076016.shtml
Source:Global Times Published: 2017/11/19 19:03:39
A man sentenced to one year in jail for slipping male growth hormones into a female coworker's food saw the decision upheld, Chengdu Economic Daily reported.
The Chengdu Intermediate People's Court upheld an intentional injury conviction against the defendant surnamed Zhou after causing the victim serious liver damage from spiking her meals with steroids.
Over the course of the retrial beginning in August, Zhou maintained it was a prank that, despite lab tests proving otherwise, involved over-the-counter vitamins. The victim, surnamed Cao, told the court it was an act of revenge.
Zhou had been sentenced in May by a Gaoxin district court for his food tampering in 2015.
Surveillance footage taken on September 16 of that year showed Zhou dosing Cao's meals with what appears to be a vial of liquid.
"I had tasted something bitter in my food and water starting in April (2015)," Cao told the court. "But I didn't give it a second thought."
Cao was finally alerted by another colleague via text message saying that Zhou had been putting steroids in her food for about half a year.
Cao said she sought medical attention after noticing her voice had dropped in pitch and a suspicious increase in body hair.
She filed a police report and Zhou was arrested in November 2016.
Tests found that Cao had suffered significant liver damage from large doses of methyltestosterone, a synthetic steroid prescribed in treatments for androgen deficiencies but also abused by athletes as a performance enhancer.
Zhou claimed he had used vitamin B1."I was only playing a joke on her," he told the court.
"She had once made fun of me for taking vitamins to get rid of parasites, so I started adding them to her food and drinks," Zhou said.
Chengdu Economic Daily
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1076016.shtml
