Maxwell Cook denies trying to poison pupils and staff at the school A jury has retired to consider its verdict in the trial of a kitchen porter accused of pouring drain unblocker into soup at a public school.
Maxwell Cook, 58, of Northamptonshire, denies trying to administer poison with intent to injure or annoy at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire.
A trainee chef told Aylesbury Crown Court she had seen him put the substance in on 11 March last year.
Mr Cook said he had walked past the soup but merely looked at the food.
About 100 pupils and staff could have eaten the soup if it had been served, the court has been told.
But the presence of the noxious substance was detected during a routine tasting, the jury heard.
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