Wife and lover who plotted husband’s caravan murder jailed for 19 years

A woman and her ex-marine secret lover have both been jailed for 19 years for plotting to kill her husband in a caravan in south-west Wales.

Christopher Mills was attacked by two masked men with guns, gloves and cable ties at 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 her sentence at Swansea Crown Court, after she was found guilty at an earlier trial of conspiracy to murder Mr Mills.

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

The other masked man, Steven Thomas, 47, who was recruited by Berry, was cleared of conspiracy to murder at the trial.

However, he was jailed for 12 months after previously admitting to possessing a firearm that was used to attack Mr Mills. He will be released once formalities have been completed due to the length of time he has already spent on remand.

During the sentencing hearing, the court was told by 55-year-old Mr Mills’ barrister that the attack had “pretty much ruined his life” and that he suffered with flashbacks.

As he jailed the former lovers, judge Mr Justice Nicklin said there had been “significant planning and premeditation”, telling them “your intention was to kill” despite the plot to kill Mr Mills being “poorly executed”.

The judge added there was an element of “coercion or exploitation” by Berry on Thomas, who “bitterly regrets his actions”.

Christopher and Michelle Mills had been married for six years when she began having an affair with Berry, a 46-year-old former marine. They were both working at a homeless charity for veterans but, within weeks, they were sharing murderous thoughts about her husband.

The pair hatched a plan to kill Mr Mills and make it look like suicide. The first two plots in late August 2024 ended in failure after Berry fell and injured himself.

The third and final attempt would end in disaster – but only after Mr Mills managed to fight off the two masked men he thought had burst into his caravan intent on attacking him and his wife.

Recalling the night of the attack while giving evidence during the murder trial, Mr Mills said he and his wife were listening to music at about 23:30 after sharing a meal together.

“Michelle had been on her phone,” he told the court. “I assumed she was playing a game. Apparently not.”

He told the court: “As I opened the door, he literally hit me right in the face with a pistol, ‘Get back, get down’ he was saying.

“I punched him in his face. I pulled his pistol off of him. He was dressed in overalls, with balaclavas. He was a lot bigger than me,” Mr Mills added.

Berry and Thomas fled the caravan after Mr Mills wrestled both their guns from them, but their car had been blocked and they had to escape on foot, eventually finding refuge in some undergrowth in a nearby quarry.

Back in the caravan, his wife was trying to cover her tracks. She dialled 999 and told police two masked men wielding guns had attacked her husband.

She said her husband had sustained a head injury in the attack, and claimed the two men, who were dressed all in black with their faces covered, were unknown to her.

Within minutes, armed officers along with a dog unit and the force helicopter were racing to the scene in Cenarth, near Newcastle Emlyn.

Berry and Thomas were located by heat-seeking helicopter cameras cowering in a hedge. They were both arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary.

However, the police investigation quickly uncovered a more sinister intent, finding gas masks, balaclavas, cable ties and a fake suicide note purporting to be written by Mr Mills 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 several references about killing Mr Mills, including one message written on 7 August that year, just over a month after their affair had begun, saying simply that Mr Mills “should just die”.

Two days later they were planning different ways of achieving their fantasy.

There was talk of poisoning her husband with sleeping pills, while Berry brought up the idea of shooting Mr Mills.

The jury in their trial heard how Berry had asked an army and navy stall holder at Swansea market if he had guns and ammunition, only to be told this was not something they sold.

Berry also asked people how to make a Mini Cooper S – the car Mr Mills drove at that time – explode on starting.

Police found a message from Berry to Michelle Mills saying he was going to meet with some “boys” to plan “what they are going to do with him”.

Michelle Mills, whose only concern, say police, was that she would not get caught, replied: “Yes, lovely, thank you.”

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

Almost immediately after the men had fled the scene, Mills wrote to him: “Police have been called get away, delete all communications … please on both phones … I love you.”

Eventually, the police were convinced not only about her guilt but also her central role in the plot to kill her husband.

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

The jury at her trial also convicted her of perverting the course of justice, for which she was jailed for 18 months – to be served concurrently with her 19-year term.

Berry was also convicted of possessing an imitation firearm and handed an 18-month jail term that he must serve alongside his 19-year sentence.