A woman and her lover have been jailed for conspiring to murd£r her husband and claim £124,000 in life insurance.
Michelle Mills, 46, was sentenced today, Dec. 19, at Swansea Crown Court to 19 years in prison for conspiring with Geraint Berry, a 46-year-old former marine, to murd£r Christopher Mills.
Berry was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the same offence, with the judge saying the pair hatched a “devious, callous and murd£rous plot”.
Two masked men armed with imitation firearms attacked Mr Mills in a caravan he shared with his wife at a holiday park in Cenarth, Carmarthenshire, in September 2024. He managed to disarm and fight off the intruders, who then fled, the court previously heard.
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The incident was treated as an armed robbery before a manhunt was launched.
Gas masks, cable-tie handcuffs and a fake suicide note purportedly written by Mr Mills to his wife were found in Berry’s rucksack. Officers also found messages between him and Mills sent immediately before and after the caravan attack.
Following the sentencing, Georgia Jones from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This was a devious, callous and murd£rous plot devised by a wife and her lover to k!ll her husband. The evidence painted a clear picture, showing that the two defendants had been discussing different ways of k!lling Mr Mills over the weeks leading up to the attack.
“However, their plans fell apart when Mr Mills managed to bravely fight off his attackers. We would like to thank Mr Mills, and the other witnesses, for their support throughout this case, enabling us to bring these offenders to justice.”
During her three-month affair with Berry, Mills discussed ways to carry out the murd£r, including smothering her husband with a pillow, poisoning his salad with foxgloves and adding antifreeze to his gravy, the court heard.
The plot is said to have been hatched just weeks after Mr Mills’ £124,000 Help For Heroes life insurance policy came into effect.
Berry began an affair with Mills in the summer of 2024 and the attack occurred at the end of September 2024.
In text conversations shown to jurors, Mills, a former charity worker, and Berry spoke of their love for each other and desire to be together.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Mills told how he was “devastated” to learn of the “calculating” nature of the incident, which he described a a “complete shock” as he always thought he had a “comfortable and happy life”.
He said he continues to suffer with stress and anxiety, adding: “This has pretty much ruined my life,” Wales Online reports.
Mr Mills said that the allegations of domestic abuse made against him by his now former partner concerned him, adding that he has since lost his job as a case manager with Help for Heroes and feels he has lost his “purpose”.
He says the scars on his forehead from the attack are a “permanent reminder” of what happened. His hearing has also been affected as a result of the assault in the caravan, according to the statement.
Detective Inspector Sam Gregory, of Ceredigion CID, said: “We’d had a report of two masked men attempting to gain access to a caravan and assaulting the owner, and we had arrested two suspects. On the surface it appeared that this case would be fairly straightforward.
“However, when our officers searched Berry and Thomas, it was discovered that they were in possession of gas masks, imitation firearms, and most bizarrely a typed suicide note purporting to have been written by Christopher Mills. With this development, the case was referred to CID to investigate, and the full extent of what had been planned began to unfold.”
Despite denying the charges, Michelle Mills, from Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, was found guilty of conspiracy to murd£r and perverting the course of justice following a two-week trial in October. Berry, from Clydach, Swansea, was also found guilty of the first charge, which he denied.
But both he and a third suspect, Steven Thomas, a former marine, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear.
On Friday, Dec. 19, Davids Elias KC, defending Berry, said a psychiatric report provided to the court detailed the defendant’s post-traumatic stress disorder and showed that he takes anti-depression and anti-psychosis medication.
During their sentencing, Jonathan Rees KC, for the prosecution, told the court that Mills has no previous convictions and that Thomas has one conviction for an offence of drug-driving. Berry has 11 convictions for offences including harassment, breach of a restraining order, battery, burglary and motoring matters.
Mills was sentenced to 19 years and 18 months concurrent for perverting the course of justice. She will serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
In addition to his 19 year-term, Berry must serve an 18-month jail term for possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear.
Thomas was sentenced to 12 months in prison for possession of a firearm. The judge said Thomas played a “subservient role” in the caravan attack, adding that given the length of time Thomas has spent on remand, his release is imminent.
