This story was originally published by Independent Community Pharmacist.

A pharmacy worker who poisoned her lover with drugs she stole from the pharmacy she worked in and used his bank cards without his permission to buy jewellery and clothes and make cash withdrawals worth over £6,000 while he was in hospital has been jailed for seven years.

Lily Cartier, 53, from Felbridge in Surrey, mixed the drugs into food and drink she had prepared for 71-year-old John Sharrard who she was living with. Having started to feel ill, he was sent for tests in February 2017 and doctors initially thought he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease because of his muscle spasms and difficulty thinking clearly and quickly.

After collapsing twice in October that year, he was admitted to hospital for further tests which revealed the presence of the anticoagulant drug warfarin in his blood and antipsychotic drug haloperidol in a sample of his hair.

According to Surrey Police, Sharrard said he “had not knowingly taken either” of the drugs and suspected Cartier had laced his food and drink with them. His brother also told police that she had access to the drugs through her work at a pharmacy.

When she was arrested in November 2017, haloperidol was found in her handbag and warfarin was later discovered in her bedside cabinet. Cartier was found guilty of two counts of administering a poison to cause grievous bodily harm and two counts of fraud in October last year and was sentenced to seven years at Kingston Crown Court last month.

Sharrard died from bladder cancer in 2022, although no direct link between his death and the poisonings was established.

Detective Constable Kieran Gamble from Surrey Police described the case as “horrific” and insisted Cartier was “planned and meticulous as she carried out her crimes and showed no remorse for John’s suffering when he lay in hospital.”

Gamble added: “Instead, she decided to go on a shopping trip fraudulently using his bank cards. Now she is behind bars I hope John’s family can take some comfort that justice has been done on his behalf.”

A statement from Sharrard’s family read out in court said: “From an outgoing person, (John) became quiet and lost spontaneity. He physically developed a shuffling gait and an expressionless face and his speech became slower and monotonous.

“Eventually he become incoherent. This appalling callous woman put so little value on my brother’s life. It is hard to believe that a human being could treat another in this cruel way. John was put through unimaginable suffering by Lily Cartier because of her greed.”