bank woman 'put deadly poison in mother's drink'.

By: Paul Cheston; Justin Davenport ; David Churchill, Evening

Standard, 14725223, 1/30/2014
A BANK worker was today ordered to stand trial at the Old Bailey charged with attempting to murder her mother a
magistrate with a deadly poison.
Kuntal Patel, 36, is accused of spiking a Diet Coke with abrin, a substance described as "much more poisonous than
ricin". Her mother Meena Patel, 54, allegedly drank the substance at their east London home but survived.
Abrin strikes at the liver, stomach and kidneys and is potentially fatal. It costs between 600 and 900.
Patel was arrested after a hunt for toxic chemicals at her home following information passed to the Met from the US.
She has said the substance was intended for a suicide bid which she later abandoned.
She does not face any terrorist charges and the count of attempted murder is under the Criminal Attempts Continued
on Page 5
Continued from Page 1 Act 1981. She is said on the charge sheet to have told police: "I had no intention to murder
my mother or cause her any harm or cause anybody else any harm, except for myself."
She appeared at Westminster magistrates' court, where District Judge Jeremy Coleman refused an application for
bail.
Patel appeared in a blue Hello Kitty sweatshirt with a long dark pigtail hanging down her back.
Judge Coleman told her: "I send this case to be dealt with at the Old Bailey and you will be produced at that court on
the morning of February 21.
"I have listened to an application for bail made on your behalf and I am not prepared to grant you bail."
Meena Patel sits on the bench at Thames magistrates court. Kuntal Patel, who works for Barclays Bank in Canary
Wharf, was arrested on Sunday.
Specialist officers in breathing gear and protective clothing spent four days searching the 450,000 terrace home in
Park Road, Stratford, which she shared with her mother.
Officers also combed the back garden, while neighbours' bins and a nearby skip were searched.
Detectives from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorist Command launched the inquiry after receiving intelligence of a plot
involving a toxic chemical.
Two other homes in south London were also searched by officers as part of the investigation.
Continued from Page 1 Act [...]
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By Paul Cheston; Justin Davenport ; David Churchill

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