Wife poisoned by mercury in her tea

Preston: A pensioner tried to win his estranged wife back by lacing her tea with mercury so she would become ill and need him to care for her.

William Dowling, 69, mixed the poisonous substance into her drink during weekly meetings between the couple who had been married for 34 years.

But his wife Maureen, 64, became suspicious after noticing small silver globules floating in her teacup and alerted her daughter.

Yesterday, as the pensioner appeared before a judge, a prosecutor said his actions echoed a remark made by Hamlet in the play by Shakespeare.

Mark Lamberty said: "He was seeking a reconciliation with his wife, and his attitude was analogous to that Hamlet comment of a play within a play - 'No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest'."

Preston Crown Court heard that Dowling's motive was to win his wife back. On her regular visits to his home, the partially deaf former electrician always had a cup of tea ready.

Earlier this year, Mrs Dowling started to become more forgetful and suffered pins and needles in her left hand, bad indigestion and severe headaches.

Although she already had a bad back, her daughters by a previous relationship, Julie and Jackie, noticed a change in their mother.

On her visit on February 13, Julie went too, and saw silver globules floating in Mrs Dowling's teacup, a white china beaker with a floral motif.

"While she was drinking it, she noticed what appeared as ball bearings in the bottom of her cup," said Mr Lamberty.

"Mrs Dowling had noticed the substance in her cup before, on four or five occasions. When she commented to Mr Dowling, he replied, 'They must be coming off the kettle' or 'They must be coming out of the teabags'."

Dowling will be sentenced next month.