A husband has been found not guilty of plotting to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife.
Paul Lewis, 54, handed £1,500 to his neighbour Dominique Saunders, 35 to allegedly arrange the killing of his wife Joanne Atkinson-Lewis after they broke up.
But Saunders scammed the grandfather by splashing the alleged hitman cash on a sunny holiday to Benidorm.
The former friends were accused of conspiracy to murder Lewis’s wife with bank records showing he withdrew £1,500 hours before Saunders deposited £1,300 into his own account, Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard.
But a jury took just over two hours to clear the two men following a week-long trial.
Lewis’s barrister, John Hipkin KC, said the grandfather was ‘vulnerable’ due to poor mental health and had been scammed by his neighbour.
He added that Saunders had ‘simply pushed off to Benidorm with the money’.
Saunders’s own barrister John Harrison KC said his client never had any intention for Atkinson-Lewis to be harmed.
Paul Lewis, pictured, has been found not guilty of plotting to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife
He handed £1,500 to his neighbour Dominique Saunders, pictured, to allegedly arrange the killing of his wife
The former friends were accused of conspiracy to murder Lewis’s wife Joanne Atkinson-Lewis, pictured
He said all he did was to ‘make some internet searches and go on holiday to Benidorm’.
Mr Harrison added: ‘It has always been a scam, never an agreement and he’s trying to get away with fifteen hundred quid.’
Police launched an investigation after Lewis confessed to his son that he had ‘put a hit’ on his ex.
Prosecutor William Hughes KC said: ‘During a conversation Mr Lewis accepted that he entered into an agreement with Mr Saunders to arrange for his ex-wife to be killed.
‘Kieran Lewis asked his father: “Have you put a hit out on Joanne?”
‘Mr Lewis apparently broke down crying and nodded at his son acknowledging that he had made such an agreement.’
Kieran called the police who uncovered the alleged hitman plot thanks to messages between the two men, who lived in the same block of flats in Swansea.
Mr Hughes added: ‘Mr Lewis entered into an agreement in which he paid Mr Saunders £1,500 which the prosecution say was a fee to arrange for the killing of Joanne Atkinson-Lewis.’
Lewis’s barrister, John Hipkin KC, said the grandfather, pictured left arriving to court last week, was ‘vulnerable’ due to poor mental health and had been scammed by his neighbour, right
Mr Hipkin added that Saunders had ‘simply pushed off to Benidorm with the money’
Messages between the duo in the following days showed Lewis repeatedly saying he had given Saunders £1,500 ‘in good faith’ and demanding to ‘see the Go Pro’.
One message from Saunders read: ‘Death becomes her.’
The jury was told Lewis later messaged Saunders to say he had ‘seen Joanne on Aberavon Prom [beach] and she was ok’.
Saunders replied: ‘Are you 99 per cent sure?’
Lewis said: ‘I am 100 per cent sure.’
A day later, Lewis messaged his neighbour again saying that he wanted ‘her out’ but the two later fell out as Lewis believed he had been scammed out of his money.
One message from Saunders said: ‘You mad or what? How have I scammed you? The bloke got your money to do work. I ain’t got a thing, so tell me how I scammed you.’
Lewis replied: ‘She is still breathing. Your story keeps changing. You said there were pictures on your phone, then it was on the GoPro.
‘I’ve not even seen the pictures, you’re a liar.’
The two men, both of Swansea, denied conspiracy to commit murder and neither gave evidence in their defence, but they were both cleared by a jury on Monday.
