A drug vendor and his former girlfriend have been jailed for murdering a father-of-two who was shot within the face and had acid poured on his physique.

Michael Hillier tracked down Liam Smith and waited exterior his house in Wigan for practically 10 hours earlier than the assault.

The 39-year-old plotted the assault over a 10-month interval together with his then girlfriend Rachel Fulstow, 37, who had claimed 38-year-old Mr Smith had raped her after a Tinder date.

Hillier, from Sheffield, has been sentenced to life in jail with a minimal of 33 years in jail after being discovered unanimously responsible of homicide following a six-week trial at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester.

Fulstow can even face life behind bars, with a minimal time period of 30 years, plus 18 months for perverting the course of justice, after being discovered responsible of homicide and one cost of perverting the course of justice, after mendacity to police.

The choose known as this a "brutal and cold-blooded murder" and stated the pair determined "to exact your own vengeance. The two of you decided to act as judge, jury and executioner".

The choose added: "You showed no remorse whatsoever."

Killers went on vacation after brutal homicide

During the trial, the courtroom heard Mr Smith was lured out of his home at about 6.40pm on 24 November 2022 by Hillier, who shot him within the face earlier than pouring acid onto his face and physique, adopted by soda crystals.

The couple then went on a two-week vacation to Jamaica simply days after the killing.

When the previous lovers returned house, Hillier was arrested and Fulstow was initially handled as a witness.

Police later arrested her as a suspect after she was discovered to have lied throughout interviews.

Fulstow's cellphone confirmed she had made web searches into Mr Smith's electrical firm and Mitsubishi Shogun automobiles, just like the one utilized by Hillier and later burned out after the homicide.

On the morning of the killing, she additionally checked the climate in Wigan.

Mr Smith's household shouted "yes" and "thank you so much" earlier than sobbing and hugging because the jury discovered each defendants responsible of homicide on Wednesday.

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Former couple turned on one another throughout trial

Hillier, who was handcuffed within the dock, stared over at his former accomplice because the verdicts have been returned.

The trial heard conflicting accounts from the previous couple, who turned on one another with totally different variations of occasions.

Fulstow had met Mr Smith on a date in York in 2019, the courtroom was instructed. She stated that they had "non-consensual sex" at a resort within the metropolis.

But Fulstow didn't describe what occurred as rape, she instructed the trial, and didn't report it to the police.

The courtroom heard she went for lunch with Mr Smith the day after the one-night stand.

She started courting Hillier two years later in 2021.

Fulstow stated he may very well be verbally abusive and unpredictable and was not glad she had a one-night stand with Mr Smith.

Hillier, who instructed the courtroom he was a drug vendor concerned in producing and distributing hashish on a big scale, stated he and Fulstow had each deliberate the assault on Mr Smith.

He claimed Fulstow instructed him she had been "graphically raped" by Mr Smith.

Hillier, who had admitted manslaughter however denied homicide, instructed the jury: "We decided jointly between the two of us that we would deal with the matter ourselves and seek justice ourselves and go down the vigilante route."

Fulstow, a global journey and tourism administration graduate from Leeds Met University, stated she was "petrified" to go to the police about her boyfriend.

She instructed the courtroom the primary she knew of the assault on Mr Smith was when Hillier turned up at her home the next morning and instructed her.