A shop manager had to spend 10 hours in hospital after one of his workers gave him a Viagra-laced sweet as an April Fool’s Day prank.

Bargain store employee Benjamin Chope bought 30 Viagra tablets on eBay and used them to make a tray of home-made jellies which he took into work on the morning of April 1.

Manager Daniel Webber ate about three-quarters of one of the poisoned sweets before he realised it tasted odd and discovered it contained Viagra when other workers let him in on the joke.

He tried to vomit out the Viagra but still felt so ill he was taken to hospital where he spent 10 hours being treated before the effects of the drug wore off.

Staff at the Home Bargains store in Newton Abbot had been joking about what would happen if one of their managers got an erection at work before Chope decided to carry out his prank.

Chope, aged 24, was sacked and prosecuted for administering a poisonous substance, but escaped with a soft sentence when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court.

Chope, of Whitelake Place, Newton Abbot, admitted maliciously causing a poison to be taken by Mr Webber and administering Sildenafil (Viagra) with intent to injure and annoy.

He was ordered to do 80 hours unpaid work as part of a 12-month community order by Recorder Mr Philip Mott, QC.

He told him: ‘What a fool. What a terrible April Fool’s joke. It went wrong in a big way and Mr Webber had to go to hospital and was no doubt very frightened indeed.

‘This was potentially dangerous because Viagra, for all its other effects, affects blood flow and might be dangerous to someone with a heart or circulatory difficulty, which you would not know.

‘That is a potentially serious danger. You are 24 and have no previous convictions and have positive references. You lost your job and the next job you took as a result of this case and that has been some punishment for you.

‘As a result you are not in a position to pay direct compensation but you can repay the community in general with unpaid work. If you complete it, you will hear no more of this, although I hope you will be older and wiser.’

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said both Chope and Mr Webber had worked at the store for about three-and-a-half years and got on well.

On April 1 he arrived with jelly sweets, which was not unusual as he often brought in home-made treats.

Miss Bolt said: ‘He said they were for the managers to try and he subsequently asked Mr Webber if he had tried the sweets. The manager said he would try them later.

‘He asked again later and Mr Webber tried one sweet at about 2 pm. It was quite a large sweet and when he was about three-quarters of the way through it, he decided it did not taste quite right.

‘Someone asked him if he knew what was in it and told him it contained Viagra. About 15 minutes later he felt the effects. He went to a lavatory and tried to bring up the sweet but produced only bile.

‘He felt worse and worse and asked Chope if he had put Viagra in the jelly and he said yes. He was taken to the minor injuries unit.

‘He still felt substantially ill and was transferred to Torbay Hospital where he spent 10 hours. Chope later said he bought 30 tablets on the internet.

‘He said he did not mean to hurt anyone and it had been an April Fool’s Day joke. He told police he got the tablets on eBay where they were described as Dragon Power.

‘He said he made eight sweets. He did not target Mr Webber but thought it would be funny to give a manager erections at work.’

Mr Webber made an impact statement which said he had trusted Chope but now felt anxious. He needed two blood tests at hospital and ‘felt let down by the incident’.

A probation report said Chope did not have any malicious intent and offered the sweets as a joke. He is remorseful and feels terrible about the anxiety he caused.

The report suggested unpaid work as a ‘stand-alone’ condition of any sentence.

Miss Anne Belllchambers, mitigating, said Chope was dismissed from Home Bargains and lost another job as a result of publicity about the case. He wants to apologise for what he now appreciates was not a good April Fool’s joke.