Woman, 36, charged with attempted murder of her magistrate mother

In a separate raid, left, Kuntal Patel (pictured), 36, the daughter of an east London magistrate, has been charged with attempted murder

A suspected plot to kill a magistrate with a deadly and rare poison extracted from the seeds of a Peruvian plant has been uncovered by police.

Detectives believe Meena Patel, 54, was the target of an unprecedented attack with Abrin, a substance described as ‘more poisonous than ricin.’ 

Her daughter Kuntal, 36, is accused of spiking her Diet Coke with the toxin after allegedly buying it from an underworld website based in the U.S.

The alleged intended victim apparently drank the rare substance at her home in Stratford, East London, but survived.

Abrin is derived from the distinctive red seeds of the rosary pea plant, a sub-tropical perennial commonly found in Peru.

It strikes at the liver, stomach and kidneys, and leads to vomiting, seizures and an agonising death within 72 hours.

Experts say a dose as small as three millionths of a gram can kill if it enters the bloodstream and there is no known antidote.

Patel, who works for Barclays at its headquarters in Canary Wharf, appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday accused of attempted murder.

She was arrested by detectives from Scotland Yard’s counter terrorism command during a huge search operation last weekend.

They were acting on a tip-off from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who smashed a hidden website that specialised in selling lethal toxins.

Dozens of officers subjected the Stratford home she shared with her mother to a finger-tip search as part of the investigation.

Officers also combed the back garden, neighbours’ bins and a nearby skip. 

Wearing a blue Hello Kitty sweatshirt with a long dark pigtail hanging down her back, Patel was told she does not face any terrorist charges yesterday.

Instead she is accused of attempted murder between December and January 26. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.

District Judge Jeremy Coleman refused an application for bail and sent her case to the Old Bailey for a hearing next month.

SOURCE-DAILYM