FAMILY ROW
Shocking moment man, 69, puts laxatives in his sister’s milk in row over their family home – as he’s spared jail
SECRET footage shows the shocking moment a man, 69, puts laxatives in his sister's milk in a row over their family home.
Robert McCabe tried poisoning sister Sharon at their Greater Manchester home, a court heard, only to be caught by a hidden camera she set up after becoming suspicious.
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Sharon, 63, had noticed a chemical smell in her milk - and her secret cam revealed he was slipping powder into the carton.
Footage of McCabe's actions has now been released after his conviction.
McCabe pleaded guilty at Manchester’s Minshull St Crown Court to maliciously administering a noxious thing to annoy, injure or aggrieve, under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
He was spared prison, instead given an 18-month community order.
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The court heard he had wanted to seize control of the family home the pair shared in what the judge called "sibling squabbling".
Sharon, who has pancreatitis, became concerned after experiencing stomach pains in April 2020.
She went to hospital and was diagnosed with pancreatitis, before she returned home and noticed the milk smelled strange - prompting her to fit the camera.
The siblings shared their home with another brother Dennis who funded the mortgage payments though Robert was on paperwork as the legal owner.
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Dennis's will recommended Sharon's son should inherit the property in Bury, which is said to have prompted the defendant's actions.
Mum-of-three Sharon has now spoken after the sentencing about her ordeal and how she became concerned.
She said: "Robert and I were not especially close, but we shared a home - I was shocked to the core to find out he was tampering my food.
"There was a strong chemical smell in my milk, which was what first alerted me. I set up a secret fridge in my bedroom, and we rigged up a secret camera in the kitchen.
"Each morning, I made my porridge as normal in the kitchen, and kept a sample of the fridge milk, so that Robert would think I was using it.
"Then I took the porridge up to my bedroom and ate it in there using the milk from my secret fridge."
I was so shocked to catch him in the act
Sharon McCabe
She told how her health had "dramatically improved" since her brother's arrest and has had "no more issues with my stomach".
She added: "It saddens and disgusts me that he would go to such lengths to get me out of our family home.
"Even though I’d suspected him, I was so shocked to catch him in the act - for my own brother to do that to me, to actually make me ill so he could force me out of my family home, is appalling.
"My sons were worried about me and pleaded with me to leave the house.
"But I refused to be bullied - it’s my home, I looked after my mother here, I should be allowed to stay without fearing for my safety."
The court heard this week that McCabe put laxatives in his sister's milk on two or three occasions over a two-week period before he was caught on camera.
McCabe has no previous convictions.
Defending, barrister Rachel Faux said he expressed remorse towards his sister, agreeing with the judge it was a case of "sibling squabbling".
She added: "He wants to put matters behind him as quickly as he can and move forward with his life.
Sentencing, Judge Maurice Greene said McCabe was charged with an offence rarely seen before the courts.
He said: "This involved sibling rivalry - the sort of sibling rivalry a man of your age shouldn't be involved in.
"There are ways to deal with things, legal ways to deal with things, and you may not always get your own way.
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"What you did was inexcusable, juvenile behaviour, and it was not on another juvenile - you knew your sister had health problems."
McCabe, from Heywood in Rochdale, was made the subject of an 18-month community order and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirements.
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