Hayley Weatherall is accused of trying to murder her terminally ill husband

A woman and her lover repeatedly tried to murder her terminally ill husband because they saw him as being 'in the way', a court has heard.

Hayley Weatherall, of Ash in Kent, was allegedly behind several bids to kill her husband Raymond, who was dying from a brain tumour.

The 32 year old is now on trial alongside her lover Glenn Pollard - who was Mr Weatherall's best friend - and Pollard's daughter, Heather. All three deny conspiracy to murder.

Prosecutor Simon Taylor told Maidstone Crown Court: 'Hayley Weatherall was having an affair with Glenn Pollard and because of this they wanted Raymond Weatherall out of the way.

'It seems that Glenn Pollard didn't feel that he could accomplish this goal on his own and so he recruited his seemingly devoted daughter, Heather Pollard, to assist them on their mission.

'The manner in which the conspirators sought to kill him ranged from shooting him, poisoning him, causing him to be burnt in explosions and drowning him, with each of these actions being kept secret by the conspirators.

'Throughout the course of these unfortunate events Raymond Weatherall didn't have a clue what was going on behind his back.'

The victim's best friend, Glenn Pollard, was having an affair with his wife and was part of the conspiracy to murder, a court heard

Mr Weatherall suffered burns in a log burner explosion last year, thought at the time to be an accident, the court heard.

He was then 'mysteriously' shot by a sniper from a river bank while he was cutting tree branches at a boatyard in Sandwich. The bullet passed through his right cheek and out of the left cheek.

As Mr Weatherall was being treated for his gunshot wound, his wife and best friend exchanged texts about their alleged murder plot, prosecutors said.

Heather Pollard (pictured) is accused of researching 'techniques on silent killing'

The court was told Weatherall sent her lover a message saying 'They didn't do a very good job did they? He's still here', to which Pollard replied 'I'm not paying him the full amount'.

Police later found sexually explicit messages between Mrs Weatherall and Pollard, the jury were told.

Internet searches were also allegedly carried out by Pollard's daughter Heather, then aged 19, which referred to 'techniques on silent killing', 'creative ways to kill someone' and '16 steps to kill someone and not get caught'.

Hayley Weatherall later confessed to the police about knowing of the attempts to kill her husband and had planned to give her husband an overdose of insulin after being told to do so by her lover, it was said.

It is also alleged that she also made confessions to two teachers at her children's school about the insulin bid, but said she could not go through with it.

She also outlined an aborted earlier attempt to shoot him in Rainham and an aborted plan to push him overboard during a fishing trip on a boat they co-owned, the court heard.

Mr Weatherall was at Sandwich Marina (pictured) when he was shot in the face by a 'sniper', Maidstone Crown Court was told

After her first police interview, she told her husband about a plan to give him a large amount of sleeping pills.

Mr Taylor said: 'Despite having learnt of the affair and having been shot in the face, it seems Raymond remained supportive of Hayley and, indeed, upon receiving her confession he reassured her, hugged her and took her to the police so they could 'resolve' matters.'

The trial continues.