Former lovers who murdered a Wigan dad have been jailed for life

Electrician Liam Smith, 38, was shot in the face and then covered in acid after being lured outside his home in Shevintgton on November 24 last year.

Rachel Fulstow, 37, who had met Mr Smith through dating app Tinder three years earlier, was convicted of his murder, as well as a charge of perverting the course of justice, on Wednesday following a trial.

Michael Hillier, 39, who had been in a relationship with Fulstow since 2021, was also found guilty of the murder, having admitted manslaughter.

Mr Smith’s family shouted “monsters” as the pair left the dock after Fulstow, who was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on Thursday (August 24).

Hillier was jailed for at least 33 years.

The trial heard Fulstow had met Mr Smith in York in 2019.

She said they had “non-consensual sex” at a hotel, but she did not describe it as rape.

Hillier, of Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, told the court that in early 2022 his then-girlfriend confided in him she was “graphically raped” by Mr Smith and together they decided to “go down the vigilante route” to “seek justice”.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Maurice Greene said whatever happened on the night appeared to be the underlying motive for the attack.

He said: “It was decided between you, you would exact your own vengeance.

“The two of you decided to act as judge, jury and executioner.”

He described the murder as “brutal and cold-blooded”.

Addressing university graduate Fulstow, the judge said it was “almost incomprehensible” that she had acted the way she had.

He added: “Whatever happened between you and Liam Smith can never be justification for what you and Michael Hillier did.”

As the pair were taken down, Mr Smith’s sister, Gemma, shouted from the public gallery: “You lying, murdering b***h. Liam has done nothing wrong, he’s completely innocent.”

As he left the dock, Hillier, in handcuffs, said: “Your boy’s a rapist.”

Hillier, who said he was concerned in the production and distribution of a large-scale cannabis operation, had admitted driving to Mr Smith’s home on Kilburn Drive on November 24 and waiting outside in a Mitsubishi Shogun with false number plates.

Just before 7pm he lured Mr Smith out of the house and shot him with a modified shotgun, pouring acid and then soda crystals over him, the court heard.

Fulstow claimed she knew nothing of the attack until Hillier arrived at her house in Andrew Drive, York, and was “petrified” to go to the police.

But the court heard in the days after the killing the couple went on holiday to Jamaica together.

In a statement read to the court, Mr Smith’s mother Julia said he was a “devoted father” to his sons, aged 11 and 14, and a “gentleman”.

She told the court: “We are never going to be able to fill this massive void which has been left in our lives.”

Louise Blackwell KC, defending Hillier, said he would not have carried out the attack were it not for his drug addiction and the influence of Fulstow.

She said: “Of course, Mr Hillier took the lead role in the sense that he went and he was the person who carried out the acts but it was under pressure from Fulstow.”

Howard Bernstein, representing Fulstow, said the evidence against her showed her role was to provide information about Mr Smith and an alibi for Hillier.

But, he said the evidence was not inconsistent with her not knowing that her co-defendant had a gun and acid.

The trial heard that CCTV footage, some from the victim's home and some from a bin wagon and an Asda delivery van, captured the vehicle driven by Hillier on the day of the murder.

Det Chief Insp Gina Brennand of GMP’s Major Incident Team said: "What that showed us was that that car was outside of Liam's home address for almost 10 hours before he got out and murdered Liam.

"We knew the build-up in that we knew the movements of the vehicle. We knew the obtaining of licence plates, and we knew how Liam had been killed but we didn't know who'd done it.

"A couple of weeks into the investigation, we received intelligence from South Yorkshire Police that a vehicle had been stopped three weeks before Liam was murdered and in that vehicle was the R22 ORA plates. It was that that really unravelled this case.

"The thread that you pull that after that was a house of cards that led to one person to another to another to CCTV to Michael Hillier to Rachel Fulstow."

The jury took around six and three quarter hours to return with their unanimous guilty verdicts on Wednesday. Two of the panel appeared in tears as their re-took their places in court.

In a statement read by Det Insp Lee Shaw outside court, Liam Smith’s family said: “Liam was more than just a family member to us. He was our rock, our Liam.

“He had the biggest and most kind-hearted soul and would literally do anything for anyone.

“We are always asking ourselves, why did this happen to Liam? Why do his two boys now have to live with the knowledge that their loving father was taken away from them in the most barbaric of circumstances.”

They added: “His name has been tainted throughout this trial and that wasn’t him. It is not our Liam. He has been denied the chance to publicly clear his name."

DCI Brennand added: “This was a challenging investigation from the start. A meticulously planned and executed murder by Michael Hillier and Rachel Fulstow so as to avoid detection.

“They spent months planning their attack, including the sourcing of chemicals, the test-firing of weaponry, the obtaining of two sets of cloned vehicle plates and researching routes so as to avoid cameras.

“They were hellbent on carrying out their attack.

“They thought they would get away with it, they even planned false alibis.

“It took us six months to find the burnt out shell of the (Mitsubishi) Shogun used in this murder. They, on the other hand, went on holiday to Jamaica.”

She said Liam Smith’s name had been “besmirched” and “tainted” during the trial.

She said: “Liam was unable to defend himself throughout this process which made it even more heart-breaking for his family.

“Whilst sitting in court, neither defendant showed any signs of remorse, nor have they recognised the magnitude of what they’ve done and the impact on Liam’s family and ultimately his two boys.

“I’m relieved that the jury were compelled by the prosecution case, seeing through their lies and deceit and ultimately leading to a very long prison sentence.”