A British soldier accused of trying to kill his wife by sabotaging her parachute was planning a new life with his lover while his wife was in hospital after the fall, a court has heard.

Sgt Emile Cilliers also asked Stefanie Goller if she would be his “nude house cleaner” while his former army officer wife, Victoria Cilliers, wasbeing treated for a fractured spine and pelvis and broken ribs, his trial was told.

Winchester crown court was read WhatsApp messages the lovers exchanged after Mrs Cilliers was hurt in a jump with the Army Parachute Association (APA) at Netheravon, Wiltshire, on Easter Sunday, 5 April 2015.

After telling Goller his wife was undergoing surgery, Cilliers, of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, wrote: “One day we might have a family of our own.”

He then asked her: “Will you be my cleaner? I only like nude house cleaners. I pay with hugs and kisses.”

The prosecution claims Cilliers tampered with his wife’s parachute the day before her jump.

Cilliers denies two charges of attempted murder and a third charge of damaging a gas valve at their home a few days before the Easter parachute jump.

Describing his wife’s condition after her fall to Goller, he added: “She was in tears last night saying all she could think of is she didn’t say goodbye to the kids. She said she thought that was it for her before she passed out from the G-force.

“The doctors were quite straight as they know what she does for a living. Harsh but better the truth than sugar coat it. She will have difficulty and will probably walk with a limp for the rest of her life.”

During the messages, sent over several months, Cilliers and Goller planned a life together, and a holiday in Honduras.

In one message, he told Goller: “From April onwards I can do random and spontaneous ….”

The court heard that Cilliers was also in a sexual relationship with his ex-wife Carly Cilliers; half-an-hour after making arrangements to meet her on 29 March 2015, the defendant was exchanging messages with Goller.

The court was read messages from Victoria Cilliers, sent before her fall, in which she joked that her husband had tried to kill her by tampering with the gas fitting at their home.

On 30 March 2015, she wrote: “Did you alter the gas lever into the cooker. It’s in the cupboard. Smell gas in the cupboard this am and dry blood around the lever!”

Cilliers replied: “Nope. That’s weird! Is the stove working?”

Mrs Cilliers said: “Don’t want to try!”

He replied: “Open back door and will see how it is when I get back.”

“Concerned re cause. Are sure not imagining it.”

“Hey. You also can’t be serious about the comment you made... You have been saying that a lot recently. Why?”

“Of course not! Just an article I read in a mag recently. Brought it to front of my mind”

“An article?”

“True life reader stories. My husband tried to kill me.”

“Serioiusly?”

“Was only making a joke. It was the blood on the handle. Wasn’t being serious. Didn’t realise I’d said it a lot.”

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday.