A South Launceston woman allegedly tampered with coffees and hired Airtasker workers to deliver them to her ex-partner in what police are calling a rare and targeted poisoning attempt.
The 43-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of attempting to unlawfully administer poison with intent to harm.
Inspector Aleena Crack said the woman allegedly purchased coffees, added an unknown substance to them and then used the Airtasker app to have them delivered to a 47-year-old man.
“Police will allege that over the last few months, the woman has caused several coffees to be sent to an ex-partner of hers that she had tampered with and put an unknown substance into with the intent to cause him some physical harm,” she said.
The man reported the first coffee to police after finding it unusual and did not drink any of the deliveries.
Crack said the investigation had been “fairly protracted” and spanned several months.
Police believe the woman sent tampered coffees on multiple occasions but have so far charged her over two of those instances.
Further charges could be added as the investigation continues.
The Airtasker delivery workers are not suspected of any involvement.
“Airtasker’s pretty common that you would do little tasks like this and there’s no reason to suspect that they had any involvement,” Crack said.
Police have early indications of what substance was used but are awaiting full forensic analysis.
Crack could not confirm whether the substance was potentially lethal.
The pair had been in a relationship that broke down some time ago.
Crack described the case as unlike anything she had encountered in her career.
“This is a rare one, not something that I see often and not something that we come across very regularly in Tasmania,” she said.
The woman was arrested while driving a vehicle and is being held in custody.
Police said the community should not be concerned about buying coffees elsewhere, describing the alleged attack as “very targeted and very isolated”.
