Australian woman is charged with lacing her girlfriend's curry with toxic snail pellets at their Perth workplace

A 43-year-old Australian woman allegedly broke into a chemical storage shed at her southern Perth workplace in February and stirred metaldehyde snail pellets into her girlfriend's leftover curry. The 58-year-old victim's tongue became numb after she tasted the food at lunchtime, prompting her to notice green granules in the dish and call police.

Workmates had eaten from the same curry earlier that morning during a tea break without any ill effects — only the portion kept back as leftovers had been interfered with.

Metaldehyde, a substance used to kill slugs and snails, was confirmed as the toxic agent responsible for the blue-green granules discovered in the food.

The accused faces a charge of endangering the life, health or safety of a person and is due to appear in a Perth court next month.