Deadly Daphne

That’s the plant, daphne mezereum, not a woman called Daphne.
The plant is special for several reasons.  It flowers very early in the year.  That’s snow you can see in the background.
Like other early flowering plants the blooms appear before the leaves.  
The plant is poisonous. Handling it can cause a rash, eating the berries can lead to a strong choking sensation.  However, there seem to be no fatal cases recorded and it is a common garden shrub so it doesn’t seem to be so dangerous.
It’s not growing in our garden, but in the wild, off the edge of the garden.
I think our neighbour took it out of his garden when his granchildren came along, not wanting to poison them.  He throws his garden waste into the “forest” and the plant apparently liked it there because it has now spread about 30 meters and become around 15 plants.
Like most poisonous plants it was widely used for medicinal purposes, including purging drunkards!!