Husband 'poisoned by anti-freeze'

Kate Knight denies murdering her husband

A woman plotted to murder her husband by slipping anti-freeze into his drinks, a court has heard.

A jury at Stafford Crown Court heard that Kate Knight, 28, of Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, set out to murder husband Lee to help clear debts.

The court heard how Mr Knight became "gravely ill" after swallowing the anti-freeze, which contains potentially fatal ethylene glycol.

Mrs Knight denies the charge of attempted murder.

William Davis, prosecuting, said that former JCB worker Mr Knight suffered kidney failure and brain damage after ingesting the toxin.

Mrs Knight believed she would get "a substantial sum", the court heard

Mr Davis added: "He is still deaf and blind and his kidneys are damaged irreparably. He could have well died."

He told the court that Mrs Knight believed that if her husband died, his employers would have paid out "a substantial sum".

Mr Davis said that Mrs Knight had previously thought about killing her husband with ecstasy tablets and an iron overdose.

He added that computer experts had uncovered internet records on the family computer which showed evidence of research into the side effects of ecstasy and anti-freeze poisoning.

In one Google search, Mr Davis said, the user who was logged in as Mrs Knight, asked: "Ecstasy - how fatal can eight pills be?"

When Mrs Knight was arrested in May 2005, police searched the home she and her husband shared, and discovered a one-litre bottle of Tesco anti-freeze containing 840ml of the liquid, Mr Davis said.

The trial is expected to last four weeks.