Man jailed for hiring ‘hit-man’ to kill wife

A BUSINESSMAN who tried to hire a hit-man to murder his estranged wife was yesterday jailed for five years.

Property landlord George Fallows, 57, offered a “killer” £10,000 to murder his wife, Karen, 35, by smashing a lorry into her car on a remote country lane.

But the killer was in fact an undercover police officer who snared Fallows in an elaborate sting.

A female police officer drove Mrs Fallows’ car to the intended “accident” spot near Abergele, North Wales and parked it bumper-to-bumper with a lorry, giving the impression of a crash in case Fallows decided to take a look.

He did not come to the scene but was later arrested near his home, on the same night, September 10, last year.

Last month Fallows, of Llangernyw, near Abergele, pleaded guilty to soliciting the murder of his wife at Caernarfon Crown Court.

He was yesterday sentenced to five years at Chester Crown Court.

The court heard that Karen Fallows had been married to her husband for nine years when she left him last July, setting up home nearby with their two young children and her 17-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

Steven Everett, prosecuting, said Fallows wanted his wife dead to avoid selling his home of 22 years, which he described as “his pride and joy”, to fund a £150,000 divorce settlement.

He contacted a man he believed to be a contract killer, but was really an undercover police officer, identified only as Mark.

Mrs Fallows yesterday said she was disappointed with the length of the sentence. Speaking outside court, she said: “It worries me, and my children won’t be happy.

“We thought he would get longer than that for the amount of trauma he has put us all through.

“Knowing my husband, he is extremely vindictive. He will hold a grudge and that does worry me.”