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BBC News correspondent Stephen Fairclough reported on a recent trial involving two men accused of conspiring to hire a hitman to kill the estranged wife of one of them. In the case, Paul Lewis, 54, was alleged to have paid Dominique Saunders, 35, from Swansea, £1,500 to arrange the killing of Mr. Lewis’s estranged wife, Joanne Atkinson-Lewis, between February and April 2023. Both men denied the charges, leading to a trial at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.
During the trial, the defense teams for both men argued that Saunders had scammed Lewis out of the money and had never intended to arrange a hitman. The jury spent two hours and twenty minutes deliberating the case before ultimately acquitting both men on Monday afternoon. Despite the allegations, neither man chose to give evidence during the trial, leaving their legal teams to make their cases to the jury.
Mr. Lewis’s defense attorney, John Hipkin, highlighted that his client had been mentally unwell during the period in question and had even spent time in a psychiatric ward. He argued that the money paid to Saunders had been used for personal gain, such as a holiday to Benidorm, casting doubt on the alleged hitman arrangement. The defense emphasized the relationship between Mr. Lewis and Saunders as one involving a vulnerable individual and a scammer, rather than a criminal conspiracy.
On the other hand, Mr. Saunders’s lawyer, John Harrison, portrayed his client as “dippy Dominique,” incapable of carrying out such a serious crime. He asserted that there was no evidence to suggest that Saunders had any intention or ability to arrange a hitman. Instead, he painted the situation as a scam in which Saunders took advantage of Mr. Lewis’s vulnerable state. Following the verdict, the judge praised the jury for their diligent and careful consideration of the evidence presented during the trial
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