Saturday, December 20, 2025 - A woman and her lover have been jailed for conspiring to murder her husband and claim £124,000 in life insurance.
Michelle Mills, 46, was sentenced today, Dec. 19, at Swansea Crown Court to 19 years in prison for conspiring with Geraint Berry, a 46-year-old former marine, to murd£r Christopher Mills.
Berry was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the same offence, with the judge saying the pair hatched a "devious, callous and murderous plot".
Two masked men armed with imitation firearms attacked Mr
Mills in a caravan he shared with his wife at a holiday park in Cenarth,
Carmarthenshire, in September 2024. He managed to disarm and fight off the
intruders, who then fled, the court previously heard.
The incident was treated as an armed robbery before a
manhunt was launched.
Gas masks, cable-tie handcuffs and a fake suicide note
purportedly written by Mr Mills to his wife were found in Berry's rucksack.
Officers also found messages between him and Mills sent immediately before and
after the caravan attack.
Following the sentencing, Georgia Jones from the Crown
Prosecution Service said: "This was a devious, callous and murd£rous plot
devised by a wife and her lover to k!ll her husband. The evidence painted a
clear picture, showing that the two defendants had been discussing different
ways of k!lling Mr Mills over the weeks leading up to the attack.
"However, their plans fell apart when Mr Mills managed
to bravely fight off his attackers. We would like to thank Mr Mills, and the
other witnesses, for their support throughout this case, enabling us to bring
these offenders to justice.”
During her three-month affair with Berry, Mills discussed
ways to carry out the murd£r, including smothering her husband with a pillow,
poisoning his salad with foxgloves and adding antifreeze to his gravy, the
court heard.
The plot is said to have been hatched just weeks after Mr
Mills' £124,000 Help For Heroes life insurance policy came into effect.
Berry began an affair with Mills in the summer of 2024 and
the attack occurred at the end of September 2024.
In text conversations shown to jurors, Mills, a former
charity worker, and Berry spoke of their love for each other and desire to be
together.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Mills told how he was
"devastated" to learn of the "calculating" nature of the
incident, which he described a a "complete shock" as he always
thought he had a "comfortable and happy life".
He said he continues to suffer with stress and anxiety,
adding: "This has pretty much ruined my life," Wales
Online reports.
Mr Mills said that the allegations of domestic abuse made
against him by his now former partner concerned him, adding that he has since
lost his job as a case manager with Help for Heroes and feels he has lost his
"purpose".
He says the scars on his forehead from the attack are a
"permanent reminder" of what happened. His hearing has also been
affected as a result of the assault in the caravan, according to the
statement.
Detective Inspector Sam Gregory, of Ceredigion CID, said:
"We’d had a report of two masked men attempting to gain access to a
caravan and assaulting the owner, and we had arrested two suspects. On the
surface it appeared that this case would be fairly straightforward.
"However, when our officers searched Berry and Thomas,
it was discovered that they were in possession of gas masks, imitation
firearms, and most bizarrely a typed suicide note purporting to have been
written by Christopher Mills. With this development, the case was referred to
CID to investigate, and the full extent of what had been planned began to
unfold."
Despite denying the charges, Michelle Mills, from
Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, was found guilty of conspiracy to murd£r and
perverting the course of justice following a two-week trial in October. Berry,
from Clydach, Swansea, was also found guilty of the first charge, which he
denied.
But both he and a third suspect, Steven Thomas, a former
marine, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm
with intent to cause fear.
On Friday, Dec. 19, Davids Elias KC, defending Berry, said a
psychiatric report provided to the court detailed the defendant’s
post-traumatic stress disorder and showed that he takes anti-depression and
anti-psychosis medication.
During their sentencing, Jonathan Rees KC, for the
prosecution, told the court that Mills has no previous convictions and that
Thomas has one conviction for an offence of drug-driving. Berry has 11
convictions for offences including harassment, breach of a restraining order,
battery, burglary and motoring matters.
Mills was sentenced to 19 years and 18 months concurrent for
perverting the course of justice. She will serve two-thirds of the sentence in
custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the
community.
In addition to his 19 year-term, Berry must serve an
18-month jail term for possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause
fear.
Thomas was sentenced to 12 months in prison for possession
of a firearm. The judge said Thomas played a "subservient role" in
the caravan attack, adding that given the length of time Thomas has spent on
remand, his release is imminent
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