Chocolate 'murder attempt' civil case withdrawn

A former fitness instructor who was questioned on suspicion of attempting to murder his then boss with chocolate says he is "happy" the employment case is now over.

Jody Bunting was arrested in November 2023 after Kimberley Hoskins had a severe allergic reaction to chocolate left at the hotel health club where they both worked.

Police closed their investigation after 18 months and took no further action against Bunting, but Hoskins also brought an employment tribunal claim against both Bunting and their former employer.

Hoskins - who has not responded to the BBC's requests for a comment - has now withdrawn her tribunal claim.

Bunting told the BBC he felt no animosity towards Hoskins.

"When the bail restrictions ended from the police I did actually send Kimberley a text message, to say I hope you're well, no hard feelings," he said.

"I'm happy purely in myself that I have sent her a message and now the ball is in her court."

He believes she had an allergic reaction to chocolate that was taken in by another employee, as it was a different type of chocolate to the kind he remembers taking in.

"Now thankfully I can laugh about the whole situation because it was so ludicrous," he said.

Bunting and Hoskins both worked together at the Derby Mickleover Hotel.

He was on holiday in Morocco when Hoskins suffered an allergic reaction, but he told the BBC he had taken in a bar of fruit and nut chocolate before he went away, for him and his colleagues to share.

"Kim was on sick leave for a week and me and my colleagues are normally not allowed to take chocolate into the workplace, so because she wasn't there I took a large bar of fruit and nut," he said.

"It was almost a celebration because we're not normally allowed to take chocolate."

A police report, seen by the BBC, states that Hoskins found chocolate on her desk on 23 October 2023, but she initially thought it was "just crumbs and someone had sat on her desk".

It records she was then advised to go home so the room could be deep cleaned, and the cleaner found a chocolate button in a pen pot.

The report says Hoskins then found a chocolate button in the pocket of her coat, which she had left at work overnight on 22 October.

Hoskins then had an allergic reaction after she returned to work and found chocolate among some toilet rolls, the report says.

When police attended officers also found a bin in the same room which was "full of chocolate cake", according to the report.

Hoskins has such a severe allergy to cocoa that simply inhaling it can harm her.

She was taken to the Royal Derby Hospital, where she was admitted to the intensive care unit.

While there, she told police that Bunting had also been "very supportive" with a disciplinary investigation she was involved in, and there was nothing suggesting he was upset with her.

She told police she initially believed that another colleague - whose name has been redacted from the report - was responsible for leaving the chocolate.

However, someone from the hotel then claimed to her there was CCTV footage which was alleged to implicate Bunting.

The BBC has not seen the CCTV footage.

However, Bunting said he was shown the CCTV by police, and it shows him and a colleague eating fruit and nut chocolate in an office, then him entering a store room with the chocolate and leaving without it.

Derbyshire Police investigated and submitted a report to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

By the time the report was submitted, police did not believe the evidence met the threshold for a charge of attempted murder, but it asked the CPS to consider authorising a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent.

The police report says the CPS decided no further action should be taken "based on issues with continuity of chocolate being left at the scene".

There is no mention of fruit and nut chocolate in the report, although it has been heavily redacted.

Hoskins has not explained why she withdrew her tribunal claim against Bunting and the hotel.

The hotel has been asked to provide a comment but has not responded.

Derbyshire Police said: "The offence that was reported to the force was serious, and the public would rightly expect officers to make all relevant inquiries and gather evidence.

"After reviewing the evidence, the CPS made the decision to take no further action against the man."

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