A husband was likened to Hamlet yesterday after attempting to poison his estranged wife in a perverse effort to win her back.

William Dowling, 69, spooned the mercury globules into her floral china cup with the aim of making her dependent on him and rekindling their marriage.

He hoped his wife would become so ill that he could volunteer to look after her, Preston Crown Court heard.

But his stratagem was discovered when she became suspicious about the silvery beads in the bottom of her cup.

Dowling, of Colne, Lancashire, administered the poison on a number of occasions but denied that he ever intended to cause her serious harm.

Mark Lamberty, for the prosecution, looked for inspiration from Shakespeare telling the court: “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’.”

Dowling had been due to be sentenced after pleading guilty to administering a poison or noxious substance with intent to injure but the judge asked for medical reports to be carried out to determine the full impact on his victim. He will now be sentenced next month.

Mr Lamberty told the court that Mrs Dowling was estranged from her husband but was in the habit of visiting him on a weekly basis at the family home.

It was in January that she first began to notice the symptoms of poisoning. She became forgetful, complained of pins and needles and suffered indigestion and severe headaches. Her daughters also noticed a change in their mother.

On Friday February 13 Mrs Dowling was visiting for lunch when, as was customary, he offered a cup of tea in a white china cup with a floral motif.

She noticed what appeared to be little ball bearings in the bottom of the cup. She showed them to her daughter Julie, 43, commenting that she had seen them before.

Mr Lamberty said that it had been noticed that Mr Dowling always appeared to have prepared a cup in advance. She had seen the substance in her cup on four or five previous occasions.

He said: “When she had commented on the objects to Mr Dowling, he reposted ‘they must be coming off the kettle’ or on another occasion ‘they must be coming off the tea bags’.

Mr Lamberty said that when Julie examined the contents of the cup, which appeared to be liquid metal, “the defendant seized the cup from her, threw the contents into the bin and appeared agitated”.

When Mrs Dowling noticed the silvery substance in her teacup the following week, the defendant told her he really must clean the kettle.

Dowling was arrested on April 1. When officers searched his home, they spotted him sliding the floral china mug into a drawer, telling them later: “I hid it because I know what would happen if you found it.”

Mr Lamberty said the effects on Mrs Dowling have been “devastating”, causing her to lose her self-confidence and creating a family rift.

Paul Lewis, counsel for the defence, said in mitigation: “His intent was simply to annoy and aggravate his wife and cause her an upset stomach. He wanted her to feel dependent on him and by that resurrect the relationship, which by that point was crumbling.”

Dowling, a father of two who has 14 grandchildren, denied the more serious charge of administering the poison to endanger life or cause grievous bodily harm at a court hearing last month.

Times Recommends

• Times Christmas appeal: Letter from the Editor
• Conferences — what a waste of money
• Schools supremo learns a painful lesson