A Scottish woman has pleaded guilty to "culpable and reckless conduct" after serving her estranged husband a curry laced with dog excrement, the BBC reports.

Jill Martin, 47, admitted that on 13 March she served up the novel dish to Donald Martin and "burst out laughing" when he started to eat it. At first she "claimed she had laced the dish with arsenic, but then confessed she had added dog excrement instead".

Paisley Sheriff Court heard that at the time of the incident, Mrs Martin believed her husband "had started an affair, although those fears turned out to be unfounded". The couple had been married for 21 years, but their relationship had "hit an all time low".

Defence solicitor Terry Gallanagh said his client had suffered "continued mental abuse" over roughly five years which had "taken its toll on her". He added that "Mr Martin had routinely questioned his wife's parental skills and had started a new business venture without her knowledge".

Mrs Martin was arrested following the offence, and "banned from going anywhere near her husband or the matrimonial home in Newton Mearns". Following the guilty plea, the Sheriff deferred sentence until 1 November, saying he felt "it would be wise to allow more time for matters to be resolved and [ordering] Martin to be of good behaviour". ®

Related stories

• Japanese cook up cancer-busting synthicurry (6 November 2007)
• eBayer unleashes defecating dog to punt kayak (1 May 2007)