A woman and her secret lover have each been handed 19-year prison sentences for a brutal and calculated plot to murder her husband at their static caravan in Wales.
The Chilling Plot to Kill
Michelle Mills, 46, and Geraint Berry, 47, conspired to kill Christopher Mills so they could continue their affair and start a new life together. The court heard that Berry, who was in a secret relationship with Michelle Mills, recruited 47-year-old Steven Thomas to assist in carrying out the planned murder on 20 September last year.
The pair launched their attack on Christopher Mills at the static caravan in Llangennech, Llanelli, which he shared with his wife. Armed with imitation handguns and wearing masks, they also carried a rucksack containing gas masks, pliers, and cable ties, indicating a premeditated and sinister intention.
Victim's Courage Thwarts Attack
Despite being severely injured during the assault, Christopher Mills demonstrated what the judge later called "remarkable fortitude and courage" by fighting off his two attackers. The masked assailants fled the scene.
Shortly after 11.30pm, Michelle Mills called 999 to report that her husband had suffered a head injury. She told emergency services she did not know the identity of the masked men who had carried out the violent attack.
Sentencing and Damning Evidence
At Swansea Crown Court, Mr Justice Nicklin KC jailed both Michelle Mills and Geraint Berry for 19 years each for conspiracy to murder. Sentencing Berry, the judge stated: "Together with Michelle Mills you planned to kill Christopher Mills. You devised the plan and led its execution."
The judge highlighted that text messages exchanged between the conspirators, which Mills deleted but Berry did not, provided a "chilling reality" of their murderous plan. He told Mills she had deleted the messages because she knew they were incriminating.
"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," Justice Nicklin told Michelle Mills.
In addition to the murder conspiracy sentence, Michelle Mills received an 18-month concurrent sentence for perverting the course of justice. Geraint Berry was given the same concurrent sentence for possession of an imitation firearm, a charge he had previously admitted.
Steven Thomas, of Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley, whom the judge said played a "subordinate role" to Berry, was given a 12-month sentence for possessing an imitation firearm, which he had also previously admitted.
The judge concluded that while the plot may have been "incompetent" and unlikely to succeed, the intention of both main defendants was unequivocally to kill Christopher Mills, with items brought to the scene intended to make the death appear to be a suicide.
