Alleged poison killer Dena Thompson was branded a "fantasist and a liar" at the Old Bailey.

Thompson, 43, is accused of murdering second husband Julian Webb with a cocktail of drugs, which they say may have been fed to him in a curry.

The offence is alleged to have happened on his 31st birthday at their home in Yapton in June 1994.

Thompson claims her husband had become depressed and took a lethal dose of aspirin and antidepressant dothiepin capsules.

Michael Birnbaum QC, prosecuting, said yesterday: "The issue here is whether the prosecution have proved Julian did not commit suicide. If he didn't commit suicide she must have murdered him. I say we have proved he did not kill himself - this was done by trickery."

Mr Birnbaum reminded the jury of the Crown's case - that Thompson had killed Mr Webb because she feared he might meet her first husband Lee Wyatt and her double life as a building society fraudster was about to be revealed.

He said: "These events all happened a long time ago. At the time of Julian's death, it must have seemed to the police that, in all probability, Dena was an unfortunate woman. She had one husband who apparently had treated her appallingly and one who appeared to have taken his own life. They didn't know what a fantasist and a liar Dena was."

Thompson had offered a number of reasons why Mr Webb might have killed himself, including that food poisoning, sun-stroke, hay-fever or flu may have led to a general state of confusion.

She also alleged that her body-builder husband may have become depressed after experiencing problems at work, taking up steroids and "hitting the bottle".

Mr Birnbaum said: "There are many reasons said why Julian should have killed himself but they are all said by her and there is nothing to substantiate any of them.

"The evidence, as a whole, points to him clearly having been killed by dothiepin. We can't say exactly how he died or when.

"In the last days of his life she could have administered the drugs in several small doses. She must have used trickery for this purpose and could have administered the drugs in spicy food such as a hot curry."

Joanna Greenberg QC was summing up for the defence today.