A PENSIONER tried to hire hitmen to kill his wealthy TV scriptwriter partner so he could inherit her estate and run off with his younger lover, a court heard.

David Harris is accused of offering three men up to £250,000 to murder Hazel Allinson, who worked on ITV drama The Bill, so he could get his hands on the £800,000 home he shared with her in Amberley, West Sussex.

The 68-year-old, who had also worked on The Bill as a producer, provided detailed information about her movements and appearance to give them opportunities to take her out, the Old Bailey in London heard.

One of the "opportunities" was as she walked her dog while another was while she on the way to church, the jury were told.

He also suggested Ms Allinson – his partner of more than 30 years – could be thrown off a cliff and it would be made to look like an accident, the court heard.

Harris had run up large debts by showering gifts, including jewellery, on his mistress Ugne Cekaviciute, whom he first met in a brothel, the court heard.

The first hitman tried unsuccessfully to warn cancer-survivor Ms Allinson about her partner's alleged intentions, and the second alerted police, who brought in an undercover detective to pose as "Chris", a third killer for hire.

Harris is accused of telling the "hitmen": "Her purse-strings are so tight, it's just so f****** unbearable."

Harris is said to have contacted the first hitman Christopher May, who works as a mechanic in Kingston, London, in February last year claiming he wanted help retrieving a debt, the court heard.

Prosecutor William Boyce QC told the jury: "This is not about debt collection, I want your help about something more serious.' He then handed over a photograph of Ms Allinson, who he referred to as his wife, a picture of a white Saab and details of the car's private numberplate, jurors heard.

"Mr May, at first, was unsure whether Mr Harris was serious."

At a later meeting Harris is said to have offered £10,000 up front and gave details of his partner's movements, including a planned visit to the Goodwood Health Club and a hospital appointment.

Most Read in News

Mr May made secret recordings of their meetings as Harris allegedly said: "I want you to know I need to get this done. The sooner the better."

In another chat he allegedly said: "I would like it to look like an accident or a mugging gone wrong or something like that."

The prosecutor said the former TV producer was providing "minute-by-minute" details of the target's movements, but added: "Mr May was not a killer. He was trying to save her."

He told jurors Harris was so shocked to see her return home, he sent a text to Mr May which read: "She's back. What the f*** happened."

Mr Boyce claims Harris contacted a man named Duke Dean to "do a hit" after Mr May failed to deliver.

Harris allegedly said he "he had a missus and wanted to get rid of her and was willing to pay £150,000 to get rid of her for him".

The prosecutor said Harris showed Mr Dean the Church attended by Ms Allinson, the place where she parked her car, the club she went to and the building where she sang in the choir.

He then took Mr Dean to the Foundry pub in Chichester where he handed him a photograph of Ms Allinson, a picture of her car and a diary of her movements, jurors heard.

But instead of carrying out the murder, Mr Dean walked into Bishopsgate police station in the City of London on November 8 last year and told officers a man had offered him a large amount of money to kill his partner.

A meeting was arranged where Harris was introduced to undercover policeman "Chris" and the court heard Harris even patted down the police officer when he got into his car to make sure he wasn't "wearing a wire".

But the vehicle had been wired with an audio/visual device, which allegedly captured Harris telling Chris: "The problem is my wife."

He is also alleged to have said he wanted the murder to seem like an accident, a mugging gone wrong or a a carjacking gone wrong.

Mr Boyce told the court that after his arrest in November 2016, Harris denied hiring the men to kill his partner, whom he referred to as his wife, saying he was in fact researching a "thriller" novel he planned to write to make money.

Mr Boyce told the jury: "For more than 30 years he lived with his partner, Hazel Allinson, in London and then in Sussex.

"He found a new girlfriend, a much younger woman. Hazel Allinson had the money, he didn't.

"He wanted both the younger woman and the older woman's money.

"If he left her he thought he wouldn't get the money, and therefore he tried to arrange to have her murdered so he could have her money and the younger woman once she was dead."

Harris had been lavishing gifts on Miss Cekaviciute and meeting her for trysts in London hotels.

He had resorted to borrowing thousands of pounds from neighbours and maxing out his credit cards to fund his double life, Mr Boyce told jurors.

Harris denies three charges of soliciting to murder Ms Allinson in 2016.

Source: Read Full Article