Woman's plot to kill husband

Kate Knight had considered hiring a hitman, the court heard

When Lee Knight became ill doctors were apparently unsure of the cause until a conversation his wife had had with a neighbour came to light.

Sarah Johnson, who lived two doors away from the couple, told the court that after Mr Knight was admitted to hospital, Kate Knight had told her that the anti-freeze had not shown up on tests.

The 28-year-old, from Stoke-on-Trent, has been found guilty of trying to murder her husband by lacing red wine and a curry with anti-freeze.

Dr Rosemary Waring, an expert in human toxicology at the University of Birmingham, said it would have been very easy to disguise anti-freeze in food and drink.

She said she was in a very unhappy relationship, she wanted him gone and she wanted his life insurance off JCB for £250,000 Neighbour Sarah Johnson

The court heard that Knight married her husband when she was 19.

During the marriage she ran up debts and realised that if her husband was dead she would be entitled to a £250,000 insurance payout.

On their wedding anniversary on 4 April, 2005, she added anti-freeze, which she had bought from Tesco and kept in her kitchen cupboards, to his wine and a takeaway curry, the prosecution said.

Former JCB worker Mr Knight, 37, was taken to hospital on 9 April.

He now has brain damage, is blind, partially deaf and needs 24-hour care.

Mr Knight now needs 24-hour care

During the trial, neighbour Miss Johnson also told the court how Knight had told her she had planned to hire a hit man to kill her husband.

"She said she was in a very unhappy relationship, she wanted him gone and she wanted his life insurance off JCB for £250,000," she said.

She added she had considered Knight to be a bit of a fantasist.

"I thought if she was going to do something this evil she wouldn't be asking somebody off the street who she has only known for a month."

Computer searches

Miss Johnson also told the court how Knight showed her the anti-freeze in her kitchen cupboard and had mixed it with red wine to mask the smell.

She added that Knight had also made plans to poison her husband with ecstasy and an iron overdose.

Computer experts found various Google searches under "liver damage" and "ecstasy" on the family's computer.

"She said she was going to poison his curry that she was cooking that night," she said.

"She had done it the previous night and he had complained about the tinny taste in his mouth."