The wife of a former Army sergeant has sat in court to see her "wicked" husband jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years for attempting to murder her by tampering with her parachute and sabotaging a gas valve at their home.

Emile Cilliers, who has since been sacked from the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, was told by a judge: "This was wicked offending of extreme gravity."

The 38-year-old was convicted by a jury of two attempted murder charges and a third count of damaging the gas fitting recklessly endangering life following a retrial at Winchester Crown Court.

Victoria Cilliers, an experienced parachuting instructor, suffered near-fatal injuries when her main and reserve parachutes failed as she took part in a jump at the Army Parachute Association at Netheravon, Wiltshire, on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015.

The 42-year-old was permitted to sit in the well of the court to see her husband sentenced and led away to prison.

Video taken moments before near-fatal parachute jump