Woman charged with poisoning colleague's curry in Perth

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 15 Oct, 09:44 · Archive

An Australian woman has been charged after allegedly lacing a colleague's curry with snail poison at their workplace.

A 43-year-old woman from Perth has been charged after allegedly lacing a colleague's curry with snail poison. The incident occurred on 12 February when the 58-year-old alleged victim brought curry to share with colleagues during morning tea. The food was consumed without incident at that time, but when the victim returned to eat leftovers at lunch, she noticed bright green granules in the meal and experienced numbness in her tongue after tasting it.

Detectives identified the substance as snail pellets containing metaldehyde, a pesticide used against slugs and snails. Police alleged that the 43-year-old woman visited a chemical storage shed before returning to the staffroom where the curry was kept. The alleged victim and the accused woman were in a relationship.

Western Australia's Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the poison can cause serious injury or death. He added: 'We're just very thankful that the person who tasted the curry was aware that something wasn't quite right – they clearly had some early adverse effects to that.' The woman was arrested on 8 October and charged with one count of endangering the life, health or safety of a person. She is scheduled to appear in court on 5 November.

How it is being reported

• Woman charged after ‘lacing co-worker’s curry with snail poison’A Perth woman is accused of slipping snail poison into a colleague’s curry (file image) (Picture: Getty Images) An Australian woman has been charged after allegedly slipping snail poison into a colleague’s curry. The 43-year-old from Perth, whose name has not been revealed, is said to have been in…Metro · 15 Oct, 09:32
• Australian woman charged with lacing colleague's curry with snail poisonThe alleged victim, who was in a relationship with the woman, had spotted bright green pellets in the meal.BBC News · 15 Oct, 05:17

In this story: Perth · Western Australia · Col Blanch

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem