Viagra ‘sweet’ April Fools prank turns sour

A SHOP worker tricked his boss into eating a sweet laced with Viagra in a “terrible April Fools joke which went wrong in a big way”, a judge said.

Benjamin Chope, 24, presented the jelly sweets to Daniel Webber, his manager at Home Bargains in Newton Abbot, Devon, on April 1.

Exeter Crown Court heard Mr Webber tried one of the sweets and had to be taken to hospital after feeling “significantly unwell” 15 minutes later.

Chope was summoned and confessed he had laced eight sweets with 30 Viagra tablets before offering them to managers as a practical joke.

He later admitted a charge of unlawfully and maliciously administering a poison or noxious substance, namely Sildenafil, to Mr Webber.

Mr Recorder Philip Mott sentenced Chope, of Newton Abbot, to 80 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month community order.

“Benjamin Chope, what a fool and what a terrible April Fools joke which went wrong in a big way,” the judge said. “Poor Mr Webber had to go to hospital and, as you may now imagine, was very frightened indeed.

“You are at the age of 24, have no previous convictions, you have got positive references, you have lost your job, you have lost the next job. That’s punishment for you.”

The judge said Chope did not have the means to pay compensation to Mr Webber but would do community service instead.

“You will just be a little older and somewhat wiser at the end of it all,” he added.