Fiancée’s grief for curry poison victim as his killer gets 23 years

The fiancée of curry poison victim Lakhvinder Cheema told today of her shock and grief over her lost love, as his killer was jailed for at least 23 years.

Gurjeet Choongh, 22, was also poisoned and came "within an ace of death". She said she feared she would never get over the agony and never be fully healthy again.

Her victim impact statement was read out at the Old Bailey as sentence was passed on Lakhvir Singh, 45, who killed Mr Cheema, her former lover, by sprinkling deadly herb aconite on his curry.

The court heard Ms Choongh had been planning a St Valentine's Day wedding and wanted children with her future husband, nicknamed Lucky, before he died in January last year.

In her statement, she said: "Even though I knew him only for three-and-a-half months he had a very important place in my life. Now, without him, my life is extremely hard.

"The poisoning took me to the brink of death. I still do not feel fully recovered and I believe it will affect me for the rest of my life. For several months the doctors were not sure whether or not it would have a long-term effect on my internal organs.

"I'm still under a lot of stress. It preys on my mind all the time. The time I spent in hospital was a very difficult time for me. I did not speak English, my family were not here and I felt completely alone and isolated. I can never forgive Lakhvir. I believe she should be given the sternest sentence possible so that it deters anyone else from even considering doing this to another."

Judge Paul Worsley gave Singh, of Southall, a life sentence and ordered that she serve a minimum of 23 years. He said: "You are not a spurned lover, you did not simply explode with anger at your rejection — you set about a cold calculated revenge. This was a plot which you had long been nurturing. You knew how deadly aconite was and how agonising the effects would be. You have shown no remorse whatsoever."

Yesterday the jury convicted Singh of murder and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Ms Choongh. The court heard how the couple collapsed, lost their vision and suffered severe pain after eating the curry at Mr Cheema's Feltham home. He died in hospital.

Today the jury acquitted Singh of a further charge of trying to poison Mr Cheema a month before his death.

Sir Desmond de Silva QC, defending, said the last conviction for murder by aconite poisoning was 138 years ago.