Wife denies trying to solicit murder

Anthea Jones, 37, of Hafod Cottage, Blackrock, Clydach, is accused of soliciting Leonard Loveridge to murder Francis Jones between January 1, 2003, and August 23, 2005.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that if her pharmacist husband had died she would have stood to inherit millions of pounds.

THE trial opened with Mark Evans, QC, prosecuting, saying Jones had a series of affairs - including a sexual encounter with her husband's eldest son, Magnus, on the day of their wedding on Valentine's Day 1998. It was said Jones had propositioned several people to kill her husband. Mr Evans said the death of Magnus in a car accident in 2001, and a riding accident involving the defendant in 2002, put a strain on their marriage. Around this time Jones struck up a relationship with former SAS soldier Bob Routledge.

"From the outset of her relationship with Bob she would regularly take him to the marital home in Gilwern for sex while Francis was at work," said Mr Evans.

"She told Bob how unhappy she was in her marriage and how she wished her husband was dead.

"She also offered Bob £20,000 to run Francis off the road and kill him." In November 2002, Jones left her husband and moved with her disabled son, Alex, into a cottage Francis bought and furnished for her. Mr Routledge also moved in, but left following further conversations about killing her husband, it was said.

Mr Evans said that after eight months she moved back into Mr Jones' house and rented out the cottage to Debra Benjamin, who cared for her teenage son. As the friendship between the two women grew, Jones confided in her about her wishes, the court heard.

"She told her she only moved back to Francis for financial security," said Mr Evans. "She said she was unhappy and wished he would die or have a car accident."

Then in September 2004, Ms Benjamin, who taped conversations she had with Jones and gave them to the police, introduced the defendant to Lenny Loveridge and they started a relationship, the court heard.

"Subsequently, she told Lennie (Loveridge) that if he cracked Francis over the head, she would sort out Lennie's finances," said Mr Evans. "Lennie ended the relationship."

The jury heard Jones, who has denied the charge, then met a man called Keith through an internet chat room. After persuading her husband to adopt Alex last year she moved back to the cottage with her new lover. Mr Evans said Jones also offered her brother, Michael Berry, £20,000, to run her husband off the road or hit him over the head with a bar in a fake robbery.

Ms Benjamin told the court how Jones had confided in her about a string of affairs with men in the Abergavenny area, including a fishmonger and a man from a photography club.

She described how the defendant started a relationship with a Cwmbran builder by throwing a packet of Polo mints with her telephone number on the wrapper at him from her convertible Saab.

After first taping her talk of somebody killing her husband as a joke, Ms Benjamin became worried after continued references, eventually phoning the police who used her as an informant.

"One of her conversations was about how much she wished he would have an accident on the way home from work," said Ms Benjamin. "But as time went on she said she was looking at other ways of disposing of him. She said she would give someone money to drive her husband off the A461."

Ms Benjamin then described how shocked her friend, Leonard Loveridge was after the defendant offered him cash to kill off Francis Jones.

Richard Smith, defending, said Ms Benjamin had exaggerated the story to cause problems with the Jones' marriage because Francis Jones had invested £135,000 in her respite care centre for disabled children.

On day two Ms Benjamin said a business card showing her in a bikini and featuring the words "real dominatrix" and "resistance is futile" was for a dance show she had planned to set up.

Ms Benjamin described it as "harmless fun" and said she was "extremely offended" by suggestions made in court that she had worked as an escort.

Richard Smith, defending, said Ms Benjamin was exaggerating her claims after becoming a police informant.

She told the jury she had not initially thought Jones serious about her desire to kill her husband, but said she later became concerned after Jones kept bringing up the subject.

She denied talking to one of Jones' former lovers about the possibility of taping her for police.

Ms Benjamin also denied allegations she had anything to gain from becoming a police informant and allegations she had gone to Francis Jones to ask for between £250,000 and £300,000 for a new business venture.

The court heard Robert 'Bob' Routledge, who served in the armed forces for 24 years, first met the defendant in 2000 while he was working at Countrywide Agricultural Merchants in Abergavenny.

They soon began meeting for sex at Jones' marital home when she would question him about his time in the army, asking him if he had ever shot anybody, and on one occasion described how she wanted her husband dead.

"She said, 'I wish I could have him done in,' and asked me if I knew anybody who could do it," he said.

"I said no, get a divorce, it's easier."

After Jones was injured in a horse-riding accident, the former soldier would visit her in hospital.

She eventually left her husband and they carried on seeing each other, but Mr Routledge said their two-year relationship ended when Jones wanted more than just a sexual relationship.

Another of Jones' former lovers told the court how she said he could live a life of luxury if he killed her husband.

Leonard Loveridge said Jones had come to him, upset after an argument with her husband.

Mr Loveridge said Jones suggested someone could hit him over the head after work, which would result in him not coming home. She then suggested Mr Loveridge could be the person to do it, he said. Mr Loveridge, who was £70,000 in debt at the time of the conversation early last year, said: "It wasn't a joke, but I didn't take it as 100 percent serious, either."

Mr Loveridge told the court he had asked Jones to divorce her husband but she said it was not an option as she needed financial security for herself and son, Alex.

Under cross-examination, Mr Loveridge denied suggestions his opinion of the seriousness of Jones' comments had been coloured by conversations with Ms Benjamin.

He said: "My opinion is based on fact because I went through it." A taped telephone conversation between Ms Benjamin and Jones was played to the jury referring to Jones' alleged proposition to Mr Routledge to kill her husband.

On day three Mr Jones, 60, gave evidence. He told the court he was worth more than £2 million and said: "She phoned me on one occasion to ask me if I had made a will. I replied that I had but she was not in it. She asked me to add a codicil which if I was to die suddenly I would make a provision so her son would receive a lump sum from the estate." Mr Jones described how he only discovered his wife had more than one lover when she contracted sexually transmitted disease chlamydia and passed it on to him.

He said he fell in love with Jones while she was working as a pub chef and later asked her to move in. He said it was domestic bliss at first, but he was unaware until later that his son Magnus had a sexual encounter with his wife in February 1998.

Mr Jones, who owns Jones Pharmacy in Llanhilleth near Abertillery, said he first knew of a lover when he heard former soldier Bob Routledge was visiting her in hospital after a horse riding accident.

Following the accident and the death of Magnus, Mr Jones described how there was a strain on their relationship.

She left the marital home at the end of 2002. Six months later, she went back. Jones finally left her husband in June last year. He described the humiliation he felt as she arrived at the house with her new lover. Mr Jones said: "She turned up at the house with another partner, I believe his name was Keith Melloy. I asked Melloy to leave because he was humiliating me."

The court heard Mr Jones adopted his wife's son in February last year but was no longer making payments to him.

Mr Jones said his wife was familiar with his route home from work and that he left the pharmacy with a briefcase full of cash on Friday nights. In police interviews said she had not bought her husband a high-powered Nissan Skyline car with the intention of him driving it off the Heads of the Valleys road into a steep gorge.

Jones also said a conversation with Mr Loveridge about the possibility of someone hitting her husband over the head after he finished work was just out of genuine concern for his safety.

When police asked her why she continuously talked of having her husband killed, Jones said: "It was never a serious request, I did not want somebody to do that."

Jones admitted in court she had behaved like a "brazen hussy". Asked about the string of affairs, she said: "I think I was being selfish. I was a lousy wife and I should never have done it. I'm not proud and I wished it had not happened."

Jones said she had tried to make her marriage work, but her husband's long working hours and failure to take his family out on day-trips began to take their toll.

"I did love him," said Jones. "He was very caring and thoughtful. I thought we would have a nice family life together." (Proceeding)