A woman who plotted with her secret lover to murder her husband so they could start a new life together has been jailed for 19 years.
Michelle Mills, 46, and Geraint Berry, 47, planned to kill Christopher Mills so they could continue their affair, and Berry recruited Steven Thomas, also 47, to help carry out the attack on September 20 last year.
Mr Mills was attacked at a static caravan he shared with his wife by Berry and Thomas, who were masked and bearing imitation handguns and carrying gas masks, pliers and cable ties in a rucksack.
Although Mr Mills was badly injured, he managed to fight off his attackers and the pair fled, while his wife called 999 shortly after 11.30pm to report her husband had suffered a head injury and she did not know who the masked attackers were.
At Swansea Crown Court on Friday, Mr Justice Nicklin KC jailed both Mills, of Llangennech, Llanelli, and Berry, of Clydach, Swansea, for 19 years each for conspiracy to murder.
Mills was also given an 18-month sentence to run concurrently for perverting the course of justice while Berry was given the same sentence for possession of an imitation firearm, a charge he previously admitted.
Thomas, of Blaengwynfi, in the Afan Valley, who the judge said had played a “subordinate role” to Berry, was handed a 12-month sentence for possessing an imitation firearm, the time of which has been served while on remand, which he too had previously pleaded guilty to.
Sentencing Berry, the judge said: “Together with Michelle Mills you planned to kill Christopher Mills.
“You devised the plan and led its execution. 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.”
He said text messages between Berry and Mills, which Mills deleted but Berry did not, were the “chilling reality” of the plan, which had been “thwarted by the remarkable fortitude and courage of Mr Mills, who fought you and your accomplice off”.
Addressing Mills, the judge said she deleted the text messages because she knew “very well” they were incriminating.
He said: “Geraint Berry may have been largely responsible for devising the method but you encouraged him to execute the plan.
“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 trial heard that Berry, an ex-marine, had been in a secret relationship with Mills for around three months before the assault and shared his fantasies with her about killing her husband.
Mills and her husband, also ex-forces, married in 2018 and lived together at Maes Ty Gwyn, Llangennech, Swansea, but the attack took place at a static caravan they shared in Cenarth, Carmarthenshire.
Mr Mills was not aware of any problems with their relationship but his wife was said to have begun an affair with Berry in June 2024.
In victim impact statements read to the court, Mr Mills said he had still been unable to come to terms with how “cold and calculated” the plot was and that he was “devastated” that his wife had been having an affair.
He described how he was a “changed person” since the attack, is anxious and on edge and finds he cannot trust people and has become withdrawn.
Mr Mills said scars on his forehead are a “constant reminder” of what happened to him, and he has suffered blurred vision and headaches and has to wear hearing aids.
Prosecution counsel Jonathan Rees KC said the incident had caused Mr Mills “serious psychological harm”, adding: “He continues to suffer with day-to-day activities and fear and flashbacks.”
Defending Berry, David Elias KC said his client’s previous convictions were “relatively minor” and did not aggravate the attack.
He said: “Although this was clearly a planned offence, it was an attack that was very badly thought out.
“There was no clear plan as to how the murder was to be carried out and the attack was very easily foiled by Mr Mills.”
He added that Berry had “used his time very well in custody”, completing a number of courses and becoming a peer mentor.
Thomas played a “subservient” role to Berry and was a vulnerable individual, the court heard.
Caroline Rees, for Mills, said mental health issues from the defendant’s childhood “may explain the quickness and the attachment to Mr Berry and how quickly the infatuation developed”.
Mills had also made “constructive use” of her time in prison, Ms Rees said.
In a statement after sentencing, Detective Inspector Sam Gregory, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: “I am pleased for Mr Mills’ sake that the criminal justice process has now come to an end, and that the three defendants have been sentenced.
“He has endured an unimaginable number of challenges over the past 15 months, from the realisation that his seemingly happy marriage was over, to being told his wife of 10 years had been plotting to kill him, and ending with her being jailed.
“Mr Mills has shown admirable strength and courage throughout our investigation, and I hope he is now able to move on and have the space to process the events of the past year.
“As for the defendants – Michelle Mills, Geraint Berry and Steven Thomas – they are now facing the consequences of their actions.
“Despite their not guilty pleas, and claims that the plots to kill Mr Mills were just fabrications, the evidence showed that Mills and Berry’s conspiracy was very real and that there had been multiple attempts to bring their plots to fruition.
“I believe both Mills and Berry are cold and calculated individuals, who have shown no remorse for their actions despite the devastation they have caused.
“This has been a complex and unique investigation, and I would like to thank all the officers and staff who worked diligently to gather strong evidence to secure these convictions and strong sentences.”
