06 January 2011 by Rebecca
What are the odds? You hire a nanny to look after your child and
they end up attempting to poison you with screen wash. This is
exactly the fate that befell Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold.
Allison Cox, nanny to Gold's daughter Scarlett, left court
yesterday charged with three attempts to poison the underwear
entrepreneur. It was not attempted murder, but rather "the
malicious administration of poison with intent to injure, aggrieve
or annoy".
Cox was working in the Gold household for a year. But there was
a fly in the ointment - or a toxin in the soup, even. Gold became
alarmed after her food tasted peculiar on three separate occasions
during September and October 2010. Gold had her soup tested and it
was found to be tempered with some unusual ingredients...
Yesterday the court heard that Cox had attempted to poison Gold
with a series of substances. First screen wash, then sugar and
salt.
Ah yes. Sugar and salt. Those highly toxic elements.
Gold, whose business empire is worth around £160m, has yet to
comment on the case.
Picture source: Ben Sutherland