Met police officer spiked bottle of energy drink with screenwash to teach colleague who kept stealing it 'a lesson' Det Con Gary Quigley, 46, was annoyed that his Powerade was being drunk He filled bottle of drink with screenwash and put it in work fridge, court told Det Con Steve Halfhide mistook it for his bottle of Powerade and drank it The policeman had to go to hospital but avoided any serious injury Quigley, from Colchester, Essex, denies administering a poison with intent Detective Constable Gary Quigley, 46, is accused of spiking a bottle of energy drink with screenwash and leaving it in a communal fridge at work A child protection detective tried to poison his colleague by switching his Powerade drink with screenwash after becoming "fed up" when his drink kept getting stolen, a court heard today. DC Gary Quigley, 46, filled the 500ml bottle of sports drink with the potentially deadly blue liquid in a bid to catch the thief and "teach him a lesson," jurors heard. Detective Constable Steve Halfhide experienced a "burning sensation" in his mouth and throat and repeatedly vomited after swallowing the noxious substance, Southwark Crown Court heard. Describing the moment he drank the screenwash, DC Halfhide said: I swallowed two mouthfuls.I instantly felt burning in my throat and then I was physically sick into the sink. I then went into one of the toilets and I was sick.I still had the burning in my throat. 'I obviously wasn't aware at the time of what it was I had. I was quite anxious and a little bit panicky. He drank milk and brushed his teeth to get rid of the taste and counteract the effects before pouring the rest of the liquid down the sink. 'I then decanted most of the bottle down the sink,' he added. 'It didn't look any different (to Powerade). It smelled to me like undiluted screenwash that was quite concentrated. DC Halfhide insisted he was unaware of any food or drink going missing or any issues between him and other staff. 'It was a good office', he told the jury. Quigley later told an officer investigating the incident that it was his bottle and that he had emptied one of his energy drinks and replaced it with screenwash. He told how he was "fed up" with his bottles of drink being stolen and that he had "caught the thief," jurors heard. The detective said he was "dismayed" when two drinks were earlier stolen from a communal fridge and insisted his "sole intention was to catch the thief', rather than to cause him or her any harm. He claimed he forgot the bottle was in the fridge as he had been busy at work, jurors heard. In interview, Quigley said in a prepared statement: "I admit fully and accept all culpability for my actions. Quigley is said to have tipped screenwash into a Powerade bottle later drunk by Det Con Steve Halfhide, right I am extremely sorry and deeply remorseful for what has happened. It was never my intention to cause any injury to anyone. However, I do accept that my actions were likely to cause grievance or annoyance. Mr Halfhide was advised to go to hospital after drinking the screenwash on 29 January last year but escaped serious injury, jurors heard. The pair were based at police offices in Stratford, east London, but did not know each other, said prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward. She said: "The allegation in this case is the defendant replaced the blue Powerade drink in a sports-style drinking bottle with screenwash and put it back in the communal fridge in the office he worked. He says his motive in doing so was the belief the drink was his, and that the person who had been stealing his drinks would be taught a lesson. In fact, his colleague Steve Halfhide had the misfortune also to be a drinker of Powerade, and to have stored his own Powerade drinks in the fridge. When he drank from the Powerade in question, he swallowed a mouthful or two of screenwash before experienced the very unpleasant consequences. As Mr Halfhide poured the liquid away into the sink, he smelt it and recognised it as screenwash. The jury at Southwark Crown Court, pictured, heard that Mr Halfhide went to hospital after drinking the liquid Ms Ledward added: 'Subsequent analysis of the blue liquid that was left in the Powerade bottle from which Mr Halfhide drank shows that it contains a number of volatile substances, also detected in a control sample of screenwash from the (Child Abuse Investigation) office, including ethanol and various types of industrial solvents. Although no analysis could be carried out for it, most screen washes contain ethylene glycol, also commonly found in antifreeze. Ethylene glycol is toxic if ingested in sufficient quantities. Ms Ledward added: "The prosecution say that whether this drink was in fact DC Halfhide's, or whether he thought it was, or even if he was stealing DC Quigley's drink is irrelevant. This was a dangerous and completely disproportionate thing to do in the circumstances. The defendant clearly intended that someone should drink from it or at least must have foreseen that someone might - that was precisely his purpose Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward By deliberately disguising the blue screen wash in a Powerade bottle and placing it, unlabelled, in the communal fridge, the defendant clearly intended that someone should drink from it or at least must have foreseen that someone might -that was precisely his purpose. She added: "At the very least, he must have intended that the person should be annoyed by suffering an unpleasant experience. Even if he honestly believed that anyone who took his drink was stealing it, to replace that drink with at best an unpleasant substance, at worst, one that had the potential to be dangerous, was not a reasonable thing to do in the circumstances. While Quigley was awaiting trial, he contacted the drinks manufacturer, Coca Cola Enterprises, to check where the bottle could be traced to, the prosecutor added. Quigley, from Colchester, Essex, denies a single count of administering a poison or noxious substance with intent. The trial, which is expected to last three to four days, continues.