Husband paid £1,500 to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife

A husband paid his neighbour £1,500 to hire a hitman to kill his wife, a court has heard.

Former steelworker Paul Lewis, 54, is accused of plotting with his neighbour Dominique Saunders, both from Swansea, over ways to kill his estranged wife Joanne.

Saunders, 34, was allegedly given £1,500 by Lewis in the spring of 2023 to hire a hitman to get the job done as the couple were going through a divorce.

But a court heard that grandfather Lewis believed he had been scammed when he spotted Joanne alive on a trip to the beach and saw she was 'still breathing.'

Lewis allegedly told Saunders he gave him the money 'in good faith' to have his wife killed.

Prosecutor Nicola Powell said the plot had been discussed in text messages between the pair between February and April 2023 and Saunders had searched for guns online.

She said the internet searches also included coffins, long-term car hire, Charles Bronson, and 'Vince from Swansea who killed a person'.

Ms Powell said: 'These search histories tend to suggest something far more sinister.'

The alleged plot was uncovered after Lewis' son Kieran went to his father's flat and found him drunk and incoherent.

Kieran Lewis told the jury he asked his father 'bluntly' if he had 'put a hit out on Joanne' and his dad nodded in response.

Swansea Crown Court heard as Kieran searched through his father's phone Lewis said that his neighbour Dominique was 'sorting it out'.

He said: 'That's when I understood there was more than just him involved in this'.

Keiran Lewis then called the police on his father, who suffers mental health problems, and he was arrested.

The court heard Joanne was shocked to hear of the alleged plot as she had not seen Lewis for some time and they had separated two years previously.

'We had not seen each other to argue,' she said.

The two men deny conspiracy to commit murder. The trial continues.