PC who switched Powerade for screenwash in office fridge is CLEARED Detective Constable Gary Quigley was 'fed up' with people taking his drink So he filled a bottle with screenwash in 'a poorly-planned practical joke' DC Steve Halfhide, also a Powerade drinker, took the bottle by accident He experienced burning pain and vomiting, but was not seriously hurt But Quigley was cleared today after a jury accepted he had meant no harm Cleared: Detective constable Gary Quigley was acquitted of administering a poison or noxious substance with intent at Southwark Crown Court A policeman who filled a Powerade bottle with screenwash as a practical joke - only for it to be drunk by an unsuspecting colleague - has been cleared of poisoning him. Detective Constable Gary Quigley, who works in the Child Protection division of the Metropolitan Police, said he was 'fed up' with his drink getting stolen from a communal fridge. So, in what he later described as 'a poorly-planed practical joke', he filled up a 500ml bottle of the berry and tropical-flavoured drink with screenwash, hoping to identify the culprit and 'teach him a lesson'. But his colleague, DC Steve Halfhide, who also drank Powerade and stored it in the same fridge, accidentally drank from the bottle of screenwash. After swallowing two mouthfuls of the drink, he felt a burning pain in his throat and vomited several times. DC Halfhide was advised to go to hospital but luckily he was not seriously hurt after drinking the toxic liquid on 29 January last year. Quigley was arrested and charged for attempting to poison his colleague with intent. But he insisted that his sole intention was to catch the thief, and not to cause any harm, which led to him being cleared of the charge today at Southwark Crown Court. He had originally admitted the office, but changed his plea and managed to convince a jury of seven men and five women that he is an innocent man. Wearing a dark jacket over a white casual shirt, Quigley, smiled to relatives in the public gallery when the verdict was announced. The court heard that Quigley bought the Powerade while he was training for a half-marathon. The pair were based at police offices in Cam Road, Straford, but did not know each other, said prosecutor Joceyln Ledward. He said: "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. 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. Victim: DC Steve Halfhide, left, was also a Powerade drinker who used the communal fridge, and accidentally drank from the screenwash bottle, which caused burning pain and vomiting Ms Ledward added: "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. 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 forseen that someone might - that was precisely his purpose. Quigley, from Colchester, Essex, claimed there was a "culture of humour" at his office where officers would play pranks on each other. He said colleagues were aware of the Powerade being spiked with screen wash, and had suggested alternatives including Fairy Liquid and even urine. Ms Ledward said this was merely Quigley "trying to deflect attention from his own wrong doing." In a prepared statement he said: "I admit fully and accept all culpability for my actions.