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Life term for curry poison killer | Life term for curry poison killer |
(20 minutes later) | |
A woman found guilty of murdering her former lover of 16 years by poisoning his curry at his west London home has been jailed for life. | |
Lakhvinder Cheema, 39, died hours after eating the meal with his new fiancee at his home in Feltham in January 2009. | Lakhvinder Cheema, 39, died hours after eating the meal with his new fiancee at his home in Feltham in January 2009. |
At the Old Bailey, Lakhvir Singh, 45, was convicted of his murder and will serve a minimum term of 23 years. | |
On Thursday, Singh, of Southall, was cleared of attempting to murder Gurjeet Choongh, Mr Cheema's fiancee. | |
However, the jury found the defendant guilty of causing Ms Choongh grievous bodily harm with intent. | |
Poison traced | |
After deliberating for a further day, the jury cleared Singh of a charge of administering poison to Mr Cheema in December 2008, a month before his death. | |
On that occasion Mr Cheema was discharged from hospital after a week but doctors were unable to say what had caused his sickness. | On that occasion Mr Cheema was discharged from hospital after a week but doctors were unable to say what had caused his sickness. |
The jury heard Singh could not bear the thought of her lover's marriage to 22-year-old Miss Choongh and laced the food with Indian aconite, known as the Queen of Poisons. | The jury heard Singh could not bear the thought of her lover's marriage to 22-year-old Miss Choongh and laced the food with Indian aconite, known as the Queen of Poisons. |
After her arrest Singh, a mother of three, tried to blame her brother-in-law Varinder for the death. | After her arrest Singh, a mother of three, tried to blame her brother-in-law Varinder for the death. |
But a lodger at the house saw her take a container with the curry out of the fridge earlier in the day, the court heard. | But a lodger at the house saw her take a container with the curry out of the fridge earlier in the day, the court heard. |
Lakhvinder Cheema was known as Lucky | |
The court heard that after the engagement became final in November 2008, Singh went to India and returned three weeks later. Another week later, Mr Cheema was taken to hospital. | |
Miss Choongh gave evidence in the trial detailing how the couple fell ill while discussing their wedding plans. | |
"Lucky said to me 'I am not feeling very well. My face has become numb and when I touch it, I cannot feel it'." | |
Ms Choongh had a shower and then said she began feeling similar symptoms. | |
"He said that everything seemed to be going dark. He could not see anything and was losing feelings in his body," Ms Choongh said. | |
He died within an hour of arriving at the West Middlesex Hospital. | |
The last thing Ms Choongh remembers is sitting on a hospital bed before being placed in a coma for two days while doctors traced the poison and gave her an antidote. | |
Police later found traces of the poison among herbs in Singh's coat pocket and in her handbag. |