Egyptian teaching assistant given six months in jail for killing 60 lab mice

The man poisoned the animals to sabotage colleague's research project

Police in Egypt say a man admitted to killing a South Valley University colleague's lab mice to stop her from achieving a degree. AP

An Egyptian court has sentenced a university teaching assistant to six months in prison for killing 60 laboratory mice to sabotage a colleague's research project and damage her chances of earning a master’s degree.

Armian M, whose full name was not released by the court, killed the animals by poisoning their drinking water. He was also fined 50 pounds ($2.67) by a misdemeanours court in the Upper Egyptian province of Qena.

The man’s colleague, a veterinary pathology fellow at Qena’s South Valley University, told police that she arrived at her lab to find all her mice dead.

She found traces of formaldehyde on the floor of the lab and in the water containers inside the mice’s cages.

Ms Barbary said she suspected her colleague killed her mice. She told police that he did it intentionally, knowing that he would ruin her research and destroy her hope of a degree.

Armian M admitted to killing the animals, a police custody report said.

South Valley University, established in 1995, is one of Upper Egypt's prominent private universities. It has a reputation for a more modern approach to its programmes compared to other higher education institutions in Egypt.