Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

A woman has been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for mixing rat poison into her ex-partner’s Coke at a pub, leaving him severely disabled, so he would not leave her.

The mum-of-three identified only as Michaela P. because of local privacy laws was handed down the sentence after being found guilty of manslaughter and bodily harm by a court in Berlin, Germany, on 15th March.

The 55-year-old woman mixed thallium sulfate into her then partner’s Diet Coke at a Berlin pub in June 2017, apparently to make him sick so she could take care of him and he would not leave her.

After consuming a potentially fatal amount of the chemical compound, Tayfur C. suffered irreversible nerve damage in addition to muscle paralysis, severe pain, hair loss and weight loss.

The victim apparently only cheated death by failing to finish his soft drink, which contained 2.11 grammes (0.074 oz) of the chemical compound, around three times the fatal dose in humans.

Michaela, who was then left “caring” for her sick partner, was exposed over seven weeks later after a doctor friend secretly took a blood sample and analysed it in a private lab, where he discovered the poisoning.

The former clerk, who met her ex in 1995 and maintained an on-off relationship with him in the years that followed, told the court: “I wanted him to get sick, I wanted to be his saviour. But I did not want to kill him.”

The investigation concluded it was not the first time she had poisoned her partner and that she had previously mixed low doses of thallium sulfate into his food over the preceding two years, causing him to fall ill without knowing why.

The woman had even secretly installed a GPS tracker under the victim’s scooter to track his movements, believing he was looking for a new girlfriend.

The victim, who now uses a walking aid, told the court: “I never suspected her. I got the impression she was doing everything to help me.”

The verdict is not final as both prosecution and defence have the opportunity to appeal.

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