Rebecca Deferia, pictured, 30, is on trial accused of conspiring to murder her former boyfriend Jonathan Catchpole

The daughter of a millionaire businessman is accused of conspiring with him to hire hitmen to murder her ex-boyfriend after he broke up with her, a court heard.

Rebecca Deferia's former partner Jonathan Catchpole was blasted in the chest with a sawn-off shotgun at point blank range after three men burst into his flat in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in August 2015.

The 39-year-old was left for dead but made a miracle recovery despite having 42 shotgun pellets removed from his chest by surgeons.

Rebecca Deferia, 30, allegedly arranged with her father to hire the hitmen to shoot Mr Catchpole and Ipswich Crown Court heard one of the gang shouted, 'Rebecca wants you dead' as they attacked him.

Prosecutor Andrew Jackson said it was 'the final act of an elaborate conspiracy or plan to murder Mr Catchpole' which was hatched by Deferia, her father and the hitmen.

He said that her father Colin Deferia was a wealthy and successful businessman with his own construction firm and his daughter was an only child who 'appeared to want for nothing'.

The court was told how she had been in a long-running dispute with her former partner and was tied to the murder plot by evidence of phone calls on pay as you go mobile phones.

Mr Jackson said there was also evidence that Deferia, who worked in the accounts department at her father's firm, had organised an earlier attack on Mr Catchpole's car when its brake lines were severed.

He also alleged that she had targeted Mr Catchpole's relatives in a campaign of threats and intimidation after hiring a private detective with her father to spy on them.

Deferia, of Suffolk, denies a charge of conspiracy to murder Mr Catchpole between August 2014 and the day he was shot.

Mr Jackson said the prosecution alleged that Deferia and her father had arranged for a relative's partner, Paul Baker, 35, to have Mr Catchpole killed in a 'careful and meticulous plan for assassination.'

Baker in turn arranged for Andrew Seaton, 40, Simon Webber, 32, and Frank Warren, 52, to carry out the 'execution' to distance himself from the plot.

The four men who were due to be paid 'several thousand pounds in cash' were all earlier convicted of murder alongside Colin Deferia.

Mr Jackson said that Seaton, Webber and Warren had travelled from their homes in Dorset to attack Mr Catchpole at his flat.

Deferia's (left) father Colin (right), 60, was previously jailed last September

He said: 'Mr Catchpole was on his own and no match for these three would be killers. Before the trigger was pulled, one of the three men shouted, 'Rebecca wants you dead'.

'Mr Catchpole was then shot and having shot him, the three men left him for dead.

'Mercifully, although he sustained a terrible shotgun wound, Mr Catchpole survived that assassination attempt.'

The court was told that Deferia had ended her five-year relationship with Catchpole on June 2013.

She then changed the locks on the home they shared in Bury St Edmunds, preventing him from picking up his clothing and possessions, said Mr Jackson.

Shortly after the couple split, Deferia and her father went to the Neptune Kitchens showroom in Bury St Edmunds where Mr Catchpole worked.

Deferia then went inside to speak to her former partner before she and her father emptied bin bags in the car park containing Mr Catchpole's clothes and shoes which had been cut with scissors or a knife, said Mr Jackson.

Paul Baker, left, was jailed for his role as 'middle man' between Colin Deferia and the 'would-be assassins', including Simon Webber, right

Her father allegedly shouted: 'I am going to have you Catchpole, you better watch your back. I am going to rip your head off and cut your d*** off.'

Deferia and her father hired a private detective called Barry Parker to carry out surveillance on Mr Catchpole and gather information about him and his relatives, said Mr Jackson.

He described Mr Parker's investigation as 'thorough and highly intrusive' and involved putting a tracking device on his car to monitor his movements.

Mr Jackson added: 'It tells you that this defendant was absolutely determined to find any information to further her aims and ambitions in having him killed.'

But he said that Mr Parker had failed to unearth 'anything remotely untoward' about Mr Catchpole and his lifestyle.

Mr Jackson said that Deferia or her father had sent a briefing pack to Baker in August 2014, setting out how he should target Mr Catchpole and giving information about him.

The letter was found in Baker's car in an envelope which had been sent from a franking machine at Mr Deferia's business Precon Products in Rougham near Bury St Edmunds.

Mr Jackson said: 'It was say the prosecution no less than a briefing pack for the targeting of Mr Catchpole and his family and ultimately his execution.

Andrew Seaton, left, and Frank Warren, right, were also jailed after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder after they and Webber attacked Mr Catchpole at his home

He claimed that Deferia had used a fake Twitter account set up by her father to follow Mr Catchpole's sister Sarah Spinks account on social media.

The fake account was used to post a message to Mrs Spinks in July 2014, remarking about the death of her first husband 13 years previously.

Mr Jackson said the tweet left Mrs Spinks distressed and was an attempt to intimidate her.

Mrs Spinks, who sympathised with her brother after his split from Deferia, received an anonymous note posted through her door in Colchester, Essex, saying: 'This is your last chance. You know what you have done. Shut your mouth or see what happens.'

Mr Jackson said that a pay as you go phone, registered by Deferia as belonging to her on her iPhone, had been used to make calls to police falsely alleging that Mr Catchpole was a drug dealer being targeted by men with firearms.

He described it as 'a false trail' to try and convince police that Mr Catchpole's murder was due to a drugs vendetta.

The attack on Mr Catchpole was carried out with a sawn-off shotgun, similar to this file picture

Mr Jackson said texts sent by one of the hitmen revealed that they expected to be paid £12,500.

Mr Catchpole was airlifted to hospital and had 42 shotgun pellets and cartridge wadding removed from his chest.