Wife and lover in Carmarthenshire caravan murder plot jailed

A woman and her former sailor secret lover were both jailed 19 years in prison for planning to murder her husband in a caravan in south-west Wales.

Christopher Mills was attacked by two masked men with guns, gloves and cable ties in the caravan he shared with his wife in Cenarth, Carmarthenshire, on 20 September 2024.

Ethel Mills, 46, known as Michelle, looked straight ahead, avoiding her husband in the public gallery as the judge handed down sentence at Swansea Crown Court after he was found guilty at an earlier hearing of conspiracy to murder Mr Mills.

One of the masked men, his girlfriend of three months, Geraint Berry, 46, of Clydach, Swansea, was also found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

The other masked man recruited by Berry, 47-year-old Steven Thomas, He was acquitted of conspiracy to murder at the trial.

But he was jailed for 12 months after admitting previously possessing the firearm used to attack Mr Mills. Due to the length of the detainee period, he will be released after the completion of the formalities.

During the sentencing hearing, Mr Mills’ lawyer, 55, told the court the attack had “hugely devastated his life” and he was suffering from flashbacks.

Christopher and Michelle Mills had been married for six years when she began an affair with former Marine Berry, 46. They both worked for a homeless charity for veterans, but within weeks they began sharing murderous thoughts about her husband.

The two hatched a plan to kill Mr. Mills and make it look like a suicide. The first two attempts, in late August 2024, failed after Berry fell and injured herself.

The third and final attempt would end in disaster, but only after Mr Mills managed to fight off two masked men who he thought had barged into his caravan with the intention of attacking him and his wife.

Recalling the night of the attack while testifying in the murder case, Mills said that he and his wife were listening to music around 23.30 after having dinner.

“Michelle was talking on her phone,” he told the court. “I thought he was playing a game. Apparently not.”

He told the court: “As soon as I opened the door, he hit me right in the face with the gun, saying ‘Get back, get down’.”

Mr Mills added: “I punched him in the face. I pulled out his gun. He was wearing overalls and a balaclava. He was a lot bigger than me.”

Berry and Thomas fled the caravan after Mr Mills pulled his guns from them, but their car was blocked and they were forced to flee on foot, eventually taking refuge in bush in a nearby quarry.

In the trailer, his wife was trying to cover her tracks. She called 999 and told police that two masked men with guns had attacked her husband.

The woman, who said that her husband was injured in the head during the attack, claimed that the two men dressed entirely in black and with their faces covered did not recognize her.

Within minutes armed police officers, along with a dog unit and the force helicopter, raced towards the scene at Cenarth, near Emlyn, Newcastle.

Berry and Thomas were located by heat-seeking helicopter cameras hidden in a fence. Both were arrested on suspicion of felony theft.

But police investigation quickly revealed a more malicious intent, which included gas masks, balaclavas, cable ties and a fake suicide note Mr Mills allegedly wrote to his wife.

Mills was soon linked to a criminal plot to kill her husband, and incriminating text messages were found on her and Berry’s mobile phones.

They had made various references to the murder of Mr Mills; these included a message written on August 7 that year, just a month after their relationship began, saying simply that Mr Mills “must die”.

Two days later they were planning different ways to fulfill their fantasies.

While there was talk of poisoning her husband with sleeping pills, Berry floated the idea of ​​shooting Mr Mills.

The jury at the trial heard Berry asked the owner of an army and navy stall in a Swansea market if he had guns and ammunition, but was told it was not something they sold.

Berry also asked people how a Mini Cooper S (the car Mr Mills was driving at the time) could explode on start-up.

Police found a message from Berry telling Michelle Mills that he was meeting with some “kids” to plan “what to do with her.”

Michelle Mills, whose only concern, according to police, was not to be caught, replied: “Yes, very nice, thank you.”

With her husband injured and still reeling from the attack, Mills sent her last, devastating text message to her lover.

Moments after the men fled the scene, Mills wrote to him: “Police called, move away, delete all communications… please from both phones… love you.”

Eventually the police became convinced not only of her guilt but also of her central role in the plot to kill her husband.

When charged with conspiracy to murder, Mills asked officers: “I’m going to jail for this, aren’t I?”

The jury at his trial also found him guilty of perverting the course of justice and so he was sentenced to 18 months in prison along with his 19-year sentence.

Berry was also found guilty of possessing an imitation firearm and was sentenced to 18 months in prison on top of his 19-year sentence.