A father has opened up about how his ‘wicked’ fiancée tried to poison him with a ‘catastrophic’ dosage of insulin ‘because he was being a k**b’.
Type 1 diabetic Derek Turner, 50, from Stoke-on-Trent, said Laura Hopkin had drunk four bottles of wine before she messed with a Bluetooth device he uses to administer the drug.
Mr Turner said Hopkin, 33, admitted she tried to give him 24.5 units of insulin ‘because he was being a k**b’.
Derek Turner (pictured) said fiancee Laura Hopkin tried to poison him by giving him a ‘catastrophic’ dose of insulin
The father of three was reading in bed at 2am when he heard the alarm on his insulin pump go off.
He claimed he went downstairs and saw Hopkin try to hide the Bluetooth remote after the couple had argued earlier in the day.
Mr Turner, an engineer who was with Hopkins for 13 years after meeting in a pub she worked in, called an ambulance and police and was forced to spend a night in hospital as his insulin levels regulated.
But he fears if he had been asleep he would have gone into a coma and died.
Mr Turner uses a pump to control his insulin levels and attaches it to a cannula in his stomach at night.
The device injects small amounts of insulin into his body through until morning.
Mr Turner had checked his levels at 11.20pm and they looked in order.
When the capsule hits around 25 units, the alarm on the device goes off.
‘That’s how I know it happened. I realised insulin was going in. She gave me three doses, 10, 10, then four-and-a-half units,’ he told the Sunday Mirror.
‘There’s a rubber tube with a clip on the end that connects the pump and cannula. So I pulled that out, left the pump on the bed and went downstairs.
‘That’s when I saw her trying to hide the remote. She tried to stuff it between herself and the cushion, but I saw it because the screen was lit up.
‘I reached over, took it off her and asked her ‘Why would you do that?’ She said ‘because you were being a k**b’. It could have killed me.’
Mr Turner, 50, said Hopkin, 33, (pictured leaving Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court last month) told him she tried to give him 24.5 units of insulin ‘because he was being a k**b’
Hopkin was spared jail last week after Mr Turner pleaded with the judge to be lenient because they have a young daughter.
Mr Turner said: ‘Even though in one way I wanted him to throw the book at her, in another I didn’t want to see our daughter lose her mum.’
He continued: ‘She’s always enjoyed a drink, but especially in the last two years. That night she’d drank two bottles of white, I had a glass of red and then she finished my bottle. Then she went to her stash again.
‘I don’t know what set her off, but we started arguing about my daughter’s wedding anniversary and what present we should get her.’
He added: ‘The thing is she’s seen me having really bad hypos. She’s seen what can happen and seen me fitting. What she did was pretty dangerous.’
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the incident could have had a ‘catastrophic impact’ on his health had he not acted so quickly.
Hopkin, who only admitted the offence on the day of her trial last month, has now been handed a suspended sentence.
Prosecutor Cathlyn Orchard said Mr Turner called 999 at 2.20am on Sunday, August 13, 2017 and told police the defendant had deliberately tried to give him an overdose of insulin.
Miss Orchard said: ‘He said they had an argument and he had gone to bed. She was on her fourth bottle of wine when he went upstairs.
‘He is a type one diabetic and had been for 11 years. He has two devices he uses to control his levels. One is fitted to him and holds 100 millilitres of insulin.’
After police arrived at 2.40am, Mr Turner was taken to hospital and kept in overnight until his blood sugar levels returned to normal.
The court heard the defendant had given him 24.5 units in total. The most he had taken before was 18 units and only after a large meal.
Hopkin denied the allegations and said her partner must have done it himself.
But the defendant, of Westwood Road, Meir, went on to plead guilty to administering a poison or noxious substance with intent on the day of her trial last month.
Ms Hopkin, of Westwood Road, Meir, pleaded guilty to administering a poison or noxious substance with intent on the day of her trial last month
Her plea was on a basis the relationship was strained and they had been arguing about money and family issues.
She admitted administering the insulin but did not intend to cause serious injury to him and did not think through the consequences of her actions.
Catherine O’Reilly, mitigating, said the defendant, who has no previous convictions, acted ‘completely out of character in an absolute moment of madness’.
Miss O’Reilly said: ‘She was in a highly emotional state after she had consumed a lot of alcohol.
‘In a moment of madness she made a terrible, terrible decision. She understands the seriousness of the position she is in.’
Miss O’Reilly added the defendant is now in a new relationship and is pregnant.
Judge Paul Glenn sentenced Hopkin to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
He told Hopkin: ‘What you did was wicked. You were well aware of his condition as you had been together for a long time. It is fortunate he was awake and realised what had happened and was able to disconnect the device and call for assistance.
‘When you were interviewed by the police you lied again and again and again. You continued to lie until the day of your trial.
‘Taking 24.5 units could have had a catastrophic effect on his health. It could have led to hypoglycemia, a coma and seizures.
‘Importantly, he does not want you to go to jail. Courts are not bound to follow the wishes of victims but it is right to take account of his view.
‘You cannot blame or justify your actions on the quite obscene amount of alcohol you drank that night.
‘I accept this was out of character when in an emotional state.’
As part of the suspended sentence, Hopkin must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement for 30 days and 120 hours unpaid work.
She was also ordered to pay £500 in costs.
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