Spurned woman 'killed ex-lover with poisoned curry' (From Your Local Guardian)

Spurned woman 'killed ex-lover with poisoned curry'

10:01am Thursday 7th January 2010 in

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A spurned woman poisoned her former lover and his new fiancee by lacing their chicken curry with poison, the Old Bailey has heard.

Lakhvinder "Lucky" Cheema, 39, died and Gurjeet Choough, 21, nearly lost her life in January last year after married mother-of-three Lakhvir Singh spiked the dish, it was alleged.

The couple had eaten a curry together at Mr Cheema’s home in Princes Road, Feltham, and within minutes had become violently ill, said Edward Brown QC, prosecuting.

Mr Cheema died within an hour of being taken to hospital, just two weeks before the couple were due to marry on St Valentine's Day. Miss Choough, who had eaten less of the meal, came out of a coma and recovered.

Opening the prosecution's case yesterday, Mr Brown said: “At the beginning of 2009 Lakhvinder Cheema and Miss Gurjeet Choough were looking forward to a long and happy life together … that future happiness was cut short, and cut short in a most terrible and cruel way.”

Singh, 40, of Southall, denies murder, attempted murder and a third charge of administering poison on December 6, 2008, to endanger Mr Cheema's life.

The prosecution claim Singh was driven to murder when she discovered her long-term lover Mr Cheema was to enter into an arranged marriage with Miss Choough, who he met at Southall temple.

Mr Brown told the jury her choice of murder weapon was Indian aconite, "known by the Greeks as the Queen of Poisons". He alleged that Singh sprinkled it into a container of leftover curry on January 27 last year.

He said: “It is an ancient choice of poisoners but today very unusual. It is an extremely toxic substance drawn from the aconite plant of which there are many species.”

Mr Brown alleged the poison was found among herbs and powders in Singh's house.

The court heard that while on his death bed Mr Cheema told medical staff he had suffered similar symptoms the previous month. In December 2008, shortly after he had announced his engagement, Mr Cheema was in hospital for a week after eating a meal prepared by Singh.

On that occasion he recovered, and the cause of his illness remained a mystery. But, Mr Brown said the episode was a trial run for the murder that followed.

The barrister said: "The reality is that the defendant poisoned Lakhvinder Cheema on this occasion – whether it was to kill or to somehow draw attention to herself when she took him to hospital (as she did) or when she visited him on a daily basis on hospital, in the hope that he might somehow see 'the error of his ways' as she saw it, we will never know."

The trial continues.