SINGAPORE - A 73-year-old woman who spent a year in jail for poisoning her husband with arsenic will now get $769,000 from the couple's matrimonial assets - $113,000 less than what she was originally awarded.

The Court of Appeal took into account that Madam Fong Quay Sim had "embarked on a premeditated course to inflict harm" on her husband for a period of time, in cutting her share of the assets from 42 per cent to 28 per cent on Wednesday.

The appeal court also calculated the matrimonial assets to be $2.7 million, instead of the earlier figure of $2.1 million arrived at by the High Court.

This was because the appeal court included the sum of $645,960 that Madam Fong's ex-husband, Mr Chan Tin Sun, had withdrawn from his bank account but could not account for what it was spent on.

The appeal court, which comprised Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang and Justice Judith Prakash, will give detailed written reasons at a later date.

In May, the High Court ruled that Madam Fong can get 42 per cent of the matrimonial assets of $2.1 million. The High Court did not relate her act of poisoning Mr Chan, 75, to the share of assets she can receive. The High Court did, however, factor in her misconduct in awarding her a maintenance lump sum of $18,000, rather than the $200,000 she had sought.

Madam Fong was convicted of causing hurt to her husband in 2010. The couple, who have a son who is a vet in Hong Kong, were married for 34 years until Mr Chan, a retired contractor, filed for divorce in 2011.

selinal@sph.com.sg