A solicitor injected supermarket packets of chicken tikka fillets, apples and ready meals with his own blood causing almost £500,000 worth of damage, a court has heard.

Leoaai Elghareeb carried a black bucket filled with at least 21 syringes while walking down Fulham Palace Road in West London last August, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

CCTV footage was shown to jurors yesterday of the 37-year old deliberately injecting the syringes into food items inside a Waitrose, Tesco and a Sainsbury’s.

The stores were forced to take the precaution of destroying all of their contaminated produce, leading to an accumulated cost of £467,000 for the three supermarkets.

In Sainsbury’s, he threw eggs and swore at staff and customers before pushing a security guard in the chest.

He also allegedly threw a syringe of blood at the chest of an NHS doctor in the street.

Shortly before his arrest, Mr Elghareeb, who has denied guilt by reason of insanity, picked up a plant pot outside a tapas bar and hurled it through the restaurant’s open door.

‘Out of touch with reality’

A psychiatrist, giving evidence on behalf of the defence, said Mr Elghareeb suffered from psychosis.

Scans taken from HMP Wandsworth revealed his use of crystal meth for self-medication had caused his brain to atrophy.

Dr Bradley Hillier, a psychiatrist and consultant in mental health to the United Nation, told the court: “I don’t think he appreciated that he thought it was morally or legally wrong because he psychotically believed that he would get in touch with the real police who would help him to get this implant out of his brain.

“At that time, Mr Elghareeb was so out of touch with reality that I don’t think he would fully appreciate the consequences of those actions in those specific terms.”

Mr Elghareeb allegedly believed injecting the food with blood would cause the “real police” to turn up and remove the implant in his brain.

Mr Elghareeb has denied three counts of contaminating food with the intent to cause the public alarm, anxiety or injury and two counts of assault by beating.

The trial is ongoing.