‘Teagate’ poisoning probe leaves a bitter taste for couple
IT WAS the one of the most extraordinary twists in the Sheffield tree-felling saga – an allegation that campaigners had poisoned three council contractors with cups of tea and juice made headlines around the world.
Now after the police confirmed this week that the investigation has been dropped due to a lack of evidence, the retired couple at the heart of the drama are asking for an apology following the company involved telling
that it could “guarantee” Teagate was genuine – even after the couple had been informed no police action would be taken against them.
It had been alleged three workers for Sheffield Council contractor Amey had fallen ill after being given tea and orange juice laced with laxatives last year, with police conducting forensic tests as part of the investigation. But a South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said this week: “The investigation is no longer live.”
Tree campaigners Dr John and Sue Unwin were accused of handing poisoned drinks to three men involved in tree-felling work close to their home on Chatsworth Road in Dore last October. The couple are part of the campaign against the controversial tree-felling programme in the city, which is seeing thousands of trees being chopped down and replaced with saplings as part of a £2.2bn highways maintenance contract between the council and Amey.
Architect Sue Unwin says the couple were surprised to be visited by detectives in late January – around the same time that clashes between campaigners and security staff hired by Amey were unfolding on another street and eventually led to the citywide programme being put on hold for several weeks after concerns were raised by MP Louise Haigh.
Sue says the couple confirmed John had made the two cups of tea and glass of orange juice in question but had not done anything to the drinks. “Because they mentioned laxatives, I said we don’t have laxatives, we are vegetarians and don’t have any problems in that department and you can look in our cupboards, which they did. I just couldn’t believe anyone could accuse us of doing this.”
After the probe was made public following a tip-off about the investigation to a newspaper which was then confirmed by South Yorkshire Police, the couple found themselves at the centre of what became an international story. The couple were advised in mid-February they were ‘no longer of interest’ to the Teagate investigation and then agreed to an interview with In the same article, Darren Butt, Amey account director, said: “Teagate is genuine, I can guarantee it is genuine.” He told the paper he was not accusing any individual, but the three workers had been off for more than a day with stomach problems.
Sue says she feels her and her husband are now owed an apology for the ‘absurd’ investigation and is disappointed at the brief nature of the police statement. “The most upsetting bit is it doesn’t say we are innocent, it just leaves it hanging over us. It would have been much better if they had said there is no evidence to suggest this happened. I do think Darren Butt should apologise.”
Sue says she feels the allegations were publicised to discredit tree campaigners. But Amey insists the news was not leaked by the company and stands by the workers who reported their concerns. An Amey spokeswoman said: “There remain three people, who work for us and have the right to carry out their lawful jobs, who became suddenly and inexplicably ill while working together on one of our sites. The situation was reported to the police who have investigated. We believe they were right to report their honestly-held concerns and we continue to support them.”