A 43-year-old woman has been arrested in Oldbury, Perth, Western Australia, after police say she secretly mixed snail poison into a colleague’s curry at their workplace. Police said the case took months of investigation before the arrest.

The incident happened in February this year. The woman brought a homemade curry into the office to share with her coworkers. During the morning tea break, everyone ate it, and nobody reported any problems.

The trouble came later. When a colleague went back for the leftover curry to eat at lunch, she spotted green seeds in the dish. Suspicious, she tasted a small amount. Her tongue went numb almost immediately. She realised something toxic had been added to the food, and she acted quickly.

Green pellets and a deadly chemical

The curry was handed over to police. Experts who tested it confirmed that the green grains were pellets used to kill snails. The pellets contain metaldehyde, a hazardous chemical that can cause serious health problems when it enters the human body.

In some cases, exposure to metaldehyde can be fatal. The fact that the victim tasted only a small amount and recognised the danger in time is a central thread of this case. Her reaction is now being credited with preventing a far more serious outcome.

How police say the poison got into the food

Investigators allege the suspect first went into a room where chemicals were stored at the workplace. She then went into the staff room, where the curry had been left. Police say she added the poison to the food when no one else was in the room.

The alleged act was deliberate and carried out in a shared space where colleagues ate together. For a woman who had shared food with the same people hours earlier, the betrayal is what makes the case so disturbing. Nothing about the morning meal suggested danger until the lunch break.

Months of questions, then an arrest

Police spent months on the investigation before arresting the suspect. Their inquiries revealed that the victim and the accused had a personal connection, and that the two had also had a relationship in the past. Those details, police said, were part of how the case came together.

The woman arrested is from the Golden Bay area. She has been charged with acting unlawfully with the intent to endanger another person’s life or health. The charge reflects the allegation that the poison was put in food meant for a coworker, placing that person at risk.

What the police commissioner said

West Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch responded to the case publicly. He said the victim’s alertness mattered most. Her decision to recognise that something was wrong with the food and raise the alarm immediately is what stopped the situation from becoming a much bigger tragedy.

Blanch also warned that the poison could have led to death. His comments underline how a common garden product, used to kill snails, can turn into a serious threat when it is placed in food.

Police said the victim’s quick reaction prevented what could have become a far bigger disaster.

The case has caused alarm across Australia. A colleague allegedly poisoning food shared at work is the kind of betrayal that leaves people questioning the meals they accept from the people they see every day. For the woman who tasted the curry and felt her tongue go numb, the lunch break ended in a police report instead of a normal meal.

As the charge moves forward, the focus will be on the court process. For now, the facts police have laid out describe a planned act, a hidden poison and a near miss that could have ended very differently.