Father 'tried to have estranged wife killed by hitman for £1,500'

This is the first picture of a father-of-two accused of hiring a hit man - and the estranged wife he allegedly wanted killed.

Former steelworker Paul Lewis paid a neighbour £1,500 to find a killer to bump off his wife of 10 years Joanne Atkinson-Lewis, it's alleged.

Lewis, 54, handed the bounty to neighbour Dominique Saunders, 34, and was frustrated when he later saw his wife 'still breathing' on a beach, a jury was told.

The two men, who lived in neighbouring properties in Swansea Marina, both deny conspiracy to commit murder.

Read More

Husband paid £1,500 to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife, court told

Prosecutor Nicola Powell told the court: 'Between February and April 2023 the two defendants conspired together - that is came to an agreement - to murder Lewis' wife.

'Lewis paid Saunders £1,500 to "facilitate the murder" and Saunders told Lewis he had paid a hitman to carry out the act and that he had images on his phone and on a GoPro camera.'

Lewis and Joanne had been together for 16 years and married for 10 but were in the throes of a divorce after separating in 2021.

Ms Powell told the jury: 'You will see text exchanges between the two men which show what they were planning with Lewis saying he had handed over £1,500 "in good faith".'

'They also show the increasing frustration felt by Lewis after he saw his wife on Aberavon beach one day and she was, in the defendant's words, "still breathing".'

Ms Powell said further texts showed the two men falling out and Saunders telling his neighbour to 'grow a pair of balls' and sort his own problem out.

The trial heard Saunders had carried out Google searches for guns, gun shops that did deliveries, gun ranges, coffins, long-term car hire, Charles Bronson, and 'Vince from Swansea who killed a person'.

She said Saunders also Googled post codes in Port Talbot where Joanne lived.

The couple's own son Keiran Lewis called police after going to his father's flat in April 2023 following family concert about Lewis.

He said: 'I asked him bluntly whether he had put a hit out on Joanne. He nodded in response.

'With my father's permission I began looking through his phone and as I did so he mentioned something about Dominique sorting it out.

'That's when I understood there was more than just him involved in this'.

Keiran Lewis said his father was 'out of it' and 'wasn't understanding the depth of the situation'.

Swansea Crown Court heard Lewis had been diagnosed with complex PTSD, was on medication for depression and he had been a patient at a psychiatric hospital.

The intended murder target Mrs Atkinson-Lewis gave evidence through a prepared statement.

She said her husband was 'very old fashioned' and was never violent towards her but would always 'turn things' to make them her fault.

Mrs Atkinson-Lewis said in January 2021 her husband packed his bags and left the marital home. She expected him to come back but six weeks later she received a solicitor's letter saying he wanted a divorce.

The trial, which is expected to last another week, continues.