LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman who murdered her former lover in a revenge attack by spiking his curry with poison was jailed for life on Thursday. 

A traditional Malaysian dish is placed on a plate at a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur December 7, 2007.  REUTERS/Stringer

Lakhvir Singh, 45, killed Lakhvinder Cheema, 39, because she could not bear the thought of him getting married to a younger woman. 

Cheema died hours after eating a leftover curry which had been in the fridge of his home in west London last January while his fiancee Gurjeet Choongh, 21, was violently ill. 

Singh had earlier gone into the house and poisoned the dish with the deadly poison aconite, known as the Queen of Poisons.  It was the first time the poison had been used to kill in England since 1882. 

She was jailed for life on Thursday at London’s Old Bailey and told she must serve a minimum of 23 years behind bars after being found guilty of murder, the Press Association reported. 

She was also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Choongh, although cleared of attempting to murder her. 

“You were not just a spurned lover, you did not simply explode in anger at your rejection.  You set about a cold and calculating revenge,” Judge Paul Worsley told her. 

Singh, a mother of three, whose husband was being treated for cancer abroad, had been having a secret affair with Cheema for 16 years, but he decided he wanted to get married and settle down. 

Cheema, known to his friends as “Lucky,” and Choongh fell ill as they discussed plans for their wedding scheduled for Valentine’s Day last year. 

Cheema died within an hour of arriving at hospital while Choongh was put into an induced coma for two days while doctors traced the poison and gave her an antidote. 

Police later found traces of the poison among herbs in Singh’s coat pocket and in her handbag. 

“I believe she should be given the sternest sentence possible so that it deters anyone else from even considering doing this to another person,” Choongh said in a statement to the court. 

“I still do not feel fully recovered and I believe it will affect me for the rest of my life.”