London woman admits plot to murder husband with anti-freeze on Christmas Day

A London woman has admitted trying to murder her husband by concealing anti-freeze in a festive drink of cherry Lambrini. Jacqueline Patrick, 54, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder after her husband, Douglas, 70, collapsed at the family home and was hospitalised on Boxing Day 2013.

Inner London Crown Court heard she made two attempts to murder Mr Patrick, in October 2013 and on Christmas Day 2013. Their daughter, Katherine, 21, admitted encouraging an indictable offence and the pair have been bailed ahead of sentencing on 2 November.

Police said that Mrs Patrick gave paramedics a fake note that was supposedly written by her husband, stating that he did not want to be resuscitated. Mr Patrick was taken to King's College Hospital, where he was placed in a coma and found to have anti-freeze poisoning.

After regaining consciousness on 8 January, he told police officers that he had only had two glasses of Lambrini on Christmas Day, and recalled feeling much drunker than usual. He also told police that a similar incident had occurred in October 2013, when he collapsed after drinking bootleg lager.

A police investigation found that Mrs Patrick had collaborated with her daughter Katherine, 21, to poison Mr Parker. Mobile phones belonging to the pair showed text messages discussing three separate attempts to poison him between 26 October and 26 December 2013. One said: "I got the stuff I will give him some later delete txt tell no one ok."

Det Insp Tracey Miller from Lambeth police said Mrs Patrick was motivated to attempt to murder her husband "by family tension and arguments between herself and her husband and the victim and their daughters". She added: "Mr Patrick came very close to dying and while he lay in his hospital bed fighting for his life, his wife told lie after lie to cover her tracks."