Police hunt for Inverness teacake poisoner

TEACAKES laced with a potentially dangerous medicine – which is also used to poison vermin – have been found in a public area in Inverness.

Picture: John Devlin

Police are hunting those responsible for what is believed to have been a deliberate act in placing the biscuits outside a home in the city’s Merkinch area.

The three cakes found were discovered to have been packed full of warfarin, which is commonly used as a blood thinner in the UK.

However, it is also widely used as a pesticide and was initially introduced for killing rats and mice before being adapted for medical use.

It is feared the snowball cakes were being used as bait to try to poison gulls which are common in the area.

The discovery was made by a member of the public on a grassy area on Old School Place in the Merkinch area of the city on Tuesday.

Chief Inspector Jenny MacDonald said: “The medical advice we’ve received is that if someone who wasn’t prescribed took it, they could have a severe reaction and require hospital treatment. Warfarin comes in tablets, and it appears some have been pushed into the top of the teacakes.”

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