The grieving fiancée of a man who died after eating a curry allegedly poisoned by a jealous former lover described how they both became ill as they discussed their wedding plans.

Gurjeet Choough, 23, told the Old Bailey how she and Lakhvinder Cheema, 39, struggled to call for help as paralysis spread throughout their bodies shortly after eating the curry together.

The food was allegedly laced with the ancient herb Aconite, known as the "Queen of Poisons", by Lakhvir Singh, 44, a married mother of three, who had had an affair with Mr Cheema for many years, the court was told.

They dialled 999 but the ambulance failed to arrive and they had to be taken to hospital by Mr Cheema's sister and her two sons.

Giving evidence Ms Choough said that her husband-to-be, known as "Lucky", blamed his former lover, Ms Singh, before falling unconscious.

"He said, 'I think this problem is because of the food we have eaten'," she told the court.

"Lucky said that if Lakhvir had come round to the house today she has definitely put something in the food."

It is claimed that Ms Singh killed Mr Cheema out of "jealousy, anger and revenge" after he got engaged to Ms Choough in December 2008. The prosecution says that Ms Singh could not accept rejection when her secret lover of 16 years became engaged to the younger woman two months before he died.

Ms Choough said that they ate the meal on the evening of January 27 last year after putting it in the microwave, a few days before their planned wedding on Valentine's Day.

She said: "Lucky had more than I did. He had it with three chapattis and I had it with two, and then after that he had a second helping.

"We sat at the dining table for ten minutes and chatted. We talked about our wedding. I washed up the dishes and Lucky said, 'I'm not feeling very well' and he went for a shower.

"He said, 'My face is becoming numb and when I touch it I cannot feel anything.' After that I had a shower and I started feeling the same."

He then told her he was losing the feeling in his body, the jury heard, and added: "Everything seems to be going dark. I cannot see anything."

Asked how she felt, Ms Choough said: "Everything was going dark, I began to feel dizzy, I wasn't able to stand up and my tummy was hurting."

Ms Choough said that Mr Cheema was told by housemates that Ms Singh had been to the house and put something in a container in the fridge.

Mr Cheema died within an hour of arriving at hospital but Ms Choough survived after being put into a coma by doctors.

It is claimed that Singh also poisoned another meal eaten by Mr Cheema on December 6, 2008, but he recovered after spending a week in hospital.

Police found two bags of herbs in Ms Singh's coat and in a handbag at her home in Southall, West London. They were found to contain the poison, the court heard.

Ms Singh denies murder and attempted murder on January 28, 2009 and attempted murder of Mr Cheema on the earlier occasion in December 6, 2008.

The trial continues.

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