Woman jailed for plotting with lover to murder husband in caravan and make it look like suicide

A woman and her lover who plotted to kill her husband so they could continue their affair have both been jailed for 19 years.

Michelle Mills and Geraint Berry planned to murder Christopher Mills and make it look like suicide.

They were found guilty of conspiracy to murder after a trial at Swansea Crown Court in October.

A third person, Steven Thomas, was found not guilty of conspiracy to murder but pleaded guilty to a firearms charge.

Police were called on 20 September last year to reports that masked men carrying guns, later found to be Berry and Thomas, had raided a static caravan in Cenarth, Ceredigion.

Despite being badly beaten, Mr Mills was able to fight them off and they fled.

Michelle Mills, 46, called 999 to say her husband had a head injury and claimed she did not know the armed men who broke in.

Armed officers and a dog unit responded, and a police helicopter soon spotted Berry, 46, and Thomas, 47, hiding in undergrowth.

While searching Berry and Thomas, officers found gas masks and a typed suicide note addressed to Mills purporting to have been written by her husband.

Police quickly established that Mills, of Llangennech in Carmarthenshire, was linked to the plot.

Digital evidence revealed she and Berry - a former Royal Marine - had been in a secret relationship for around three months and had discussed ways to kill Mr Mills.

These included killing him with sleeping tablets, suffocating him in his sleep and poisoning him with antifreeze.

Berry also looked into how to make his victim's Mini explode on start up.

Police said when Berry told Mills he was meeting with some "boys" to plan "what they are going to do with him", she responded: "Yes, lovely, thank you."

Gas masks were 'to set up a fake suicide'

Detective Inspector Sam Gregory said: "Berry and Mills had previously discussed using gas to kill Mr Mills, while making it look like he had taken his own life.

"Berry had asked Mills where the boiler was, and he and Thomas carried gas masks that would have protected themselves while Mr Mills suffocated.

"No explanation has been given by any of the three defendants for the fake suicide note or the gas masks in the rucksack.

"What's clear is that these were not being used to frighten Mr Mills - they were there to set up a fake suicide."

DI Gregory said the victim had no idea his wife of 10 years wanted him dead and believed they had a happy marriage.

'Your intention was to kill'

Judge Mr Justice Nicklin KC said the pair had not shown any remorse and they were only concerned with not getting caught.

"You devised the plan and led its execution," he told Berry.

"You recruited Steven Thomas to assist you and while intoxicated, you equipped yourself with items that demonstrated your intention to kill Mr Mills and make it appear to be a suicide.

"However incompetent the plan was and how unlikely it was to be achieved, your intention was to kill."

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The judge told Michelle Mills she had encouraged her lover.

He said: "The evidence strongly suggests in the weeks leading up to the incident, you cultivated and exploited Geraint Berry's animosity towards your husband and encouraged him to find a way to get rid of your husband, not in fantasy but reality."

The judge also praised Mr Mills' "remarkable fortitude and courage" in fighting off the pair.

Steven Thomas was sentenced to 12 months but will be released immediately due to time served on remand.

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