Lakhvir Kaur Singh laced ex-lovers curry with deadly poison
A MARRIED mother-of-three who murdered her ex-lover after lacing his curry with poison has been jailed for life.
Lakhvir Kaur Singh, 40, was found guilty of murder and GBH with intent yesterday following a trial at the Old Bailey.
Singh laced Lakhvinder ‘Lucky’ Cheema’s food with the deadly poison Aconite last January after he announced plans to marry a younger woman, Gurjeet Choough.
Mr Cheema’s last hours were described by police as “extremely traumatic”.
Within hours of eating the food he became paralysed and went blind as the poison ravaged his body.
His fiancé, Gurjeet Choough, was also left fighting for her life after eating the same curry as her husband-to-be. The 21-year-old was rushed to hospital and put into a medical coma whilst doctors battled to stabilise her heart and breathing.
Today Singh was jailed for life for the evil crime.
Sentencing her at the Old Bailey, Judge Paul Worsley told her: “You were not just a spurned lover, you did not simply explode in anger at your rejection. You set about a cold and calculating revenge.”
Miss Choough said she could never forgive Singh for taking away the man she was about to marry. Miss Choough told the court in a victim impact statement she still suffers the stress of having been close to death. She said: “Lakhvinder Cheema was my fiancé and we were to be married on February 14 2009. Preparations for the wedding were under way, here as well as in India where my family lives. However, it is very unfortunate that Lakhvinder was snatched away from us. He was looking forward to having children and also having his elderly father living with us.”
The Old Bailey was told Singh, a married mother-of-three, had been involved in a 15 year affair with Lucky prior to his engagement to Gurjeet.
Singh did not take the news of her lover’s engagement well, she sent text messages to both Gurjeet and Lucky and eventually the three met and Gurjeet told Singh she wanted her to stop calling Lucky and allow them to start their new life together.
Singh accused Gurjeet of only marrying Lucky to obtain residence in the country, the Old Bailey heard, and in a bid to drive a wedge between Lucky and his family Singh disclosed details of their affair to her brother-in-law.
When her plan failed, Singh devised another plan with murderous consequences.
On 27 January last year Singh went to the Feltham home Lucky shared with other tenants.
Going straight into the kitchen she took out a plastic container which contained a curry made by Gurjeet the previous day.
The Old Bailey was told she laced the food with the deadly poison Aconite before putting the container back into the refrigerator and leaving the house.
When Lucky discovered that Singh had visited his home, thinking she may have a key, he swapped the locks on his front and back doors to prevent her letting herself in.
He also told Gurjeet that Singh had called him to say she had been to the house with five men to ‘get him’.
Later that evening Gurjeet heated the remainder of the curry for a meal for herself and Lucky.
Within a short time they began to feel unwell, the symptoms taking hold very quickly. The pair rang one of the tenants for help as they were incapable of moving. By the time she got downstairs to them, they were unable to move and Lucky was vomiting violently. Lucky’s sister came to the house and put Lucky and Gurjeet into her car to take them to hospital; they had both lost their sight and were losing the use of their limbs. By the time they reached the hospital Lucky was completely paralysed.
He died within an hour of being admitted to hospital in the early hours of Wednesday 28 January. Gurjeet was put into a medical coma whilst the staff at the hospital stabilised her heart and breathing.
Singh was arrested on 28 January and a small packet of the poison was found in her coat pocket and another in her handbag.
She told officers that it was medication for a rash on her neck, giving the medical teams trying to save Gurjeet no assistance by identifying the poison.
Expert forensic analysis identified that the poison Aconite was present in both of the victims, the remains of the curry and the packets found in Singh’s coat and handbag.
Singh was charged with murder two days later.
