Wife, her lover and his daughter jailed for plotting to kill her terminally ill husband

‘This was cruelty of a high degree,’ says judge

Glenn Pollard and Hayley Weatherall, who conspired to murder the latter’s husband (KMG/SWNS)

A wife, her lover and his daughter have been handed life sentences for plotting to kill her terminally ill husband by shooting him in the face.

The incident was one of a string of unsuccessful attempts to kill 53-year-old Raymond Weatherall by his wife Hayley Weatherall, 32, Glenn Pollard, 49 and his daughter Heather, 20, a court heard.

Ms Weatherall, a mother-of-three, cried in the dock as she was handed a minimum sentence of 15 years at Maidstone Crown Court for conspiracy to murder.

Her lover and his daughter will serve minimum terms of 17 years and 15 years respectively.

Heather Pollard shot Raymond Weatherall in the face, but he survived (SWNS.COM)

Sentencing them, Judge Adele Williams said: “This was cruelty of a high degree. Cold, calculated and chilling cruelty.

“You conspired to murder a man because you believed he stood in your way.

“That man was your husband, Hayley Weatherall; your best friend of over 20 years, Glenn Pollard; and ‘uncle Ray’, your father’s best friend and a man who you had known all your life, Heather Pollard.”

She went on to say Pollard was the “prime mover” in what she called “three settled, determined and sophisticated” attempts to murder Mr Weatherall.

The first attempt was when Heather Pollard, 20, went to shoot Mr Weatherall in Rainham on 20 November 2017 under instruction from her father, but was unable to do so, she said.

Heather Pollard, who was 19 at the time, was “desperate” for approval from her father and joined the conspiracy with “enthusiasm”, according to the judge.

The second attempt was on 29 November 2017, when Heather Pollard shot Mr Weatherall at Sandwich Marina from across the River Stour.

Heather Pollard behaved like a “sniper” and was again acting on the instructions of her husband, the judge said.

The victim was shot in the face and bled profusely from the mouth, nose and ear, but the bullet narrowly missed his carotid artery and jugular vein.

Weatherall knew of the plot to kill her husband, sending a text to Glenn Pollard from the hospital which said: “They didn’t do a very good job, he’s still here.”

Mr Weatherall still has most of the bullet lodged in his left jaw, as it was too difficult to remove.

Raymond Weatherall arrives at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday (PA)

The court heard how the third attempt was in December 2017, when Heather Pollard researched insulin overdose on the internet, as the victim is a diabetic who injects insulin.

She sent a text message to her father on 4 December, which said a method of killing the victim would be to “give him knockout pills and inject him where he injects himself”.

Weatherall told police Glenn Pollard gave her four sleeping tablets to crush into her husband’s food.

He also gave her £500 and told her to inject Mr Weatherall with a full pen of insulin when he was asleep, but she did not go through with it.

At their trial, Maidstone Crown Court was told the second shooting triggered a police investigation, which uncovered the other unsuccessful attempts on the man’s life

In January, Mr Weatherall’s niece Emma Worsfold tipped off Kent Police that she believed the three were trying to kill her uncle, after she learned of the affair.

Investigating officer PC Paul Wilson said: “This has been a very complex case and extremely difficult for the victim who is quite frankly lucky to be alive.

“He’s had to come to terms with the fact that three people close to him who he cared about were so intent on hurting him.

“They’ve also put him through further distress with a long and upsetting trial that has revealed all the despicable actions of these three individuals.”

Kent Police raided their homes and quickly recovered a bolt-action rifle.

The judge said: “By the way in which each of you participated in this conspiracy, I believe that each of you will remain a serious danger to the public for a period which cannot be reliably estimated at the present time.

“I also conclude that such will be the revulsion and horror felt by right-thinking members of the public at this crime that only a sentence of imprisonment for life is justified.”

SWNS and Press Association contributed to this report