‘Bitter’ mum tried to pay three men £5,000 to murder her ‘b******’ ex-husband after he ran off with her friend
A “BITTER” mum tried to pay three men to £5,000 to murder her ex-husband after he ran off with her friend, a court has heard.
Victoria Breeden, 39, felt such "bitterness and anger" that she tried to persuade a series of men to murder Rob Parkes.
She was convicted of asking the men to kill him after he married her friend Vicotira Balmer, 37, and won custody of their child.
Breeden, from Littleport, Cambs, claimed she was just “joking” and “wasn’t serious” when she spoke about hiring hitmen to carry out the attack.
But a jury found her guilty of three counts of soliciting his murder following an eight-day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
GUILTY
She was unanimously cleared of one further count of soliciting murder, relating to a fourth man she allegedly tried to persuade to kill Mr Parkes, Daniel Proctor.
The defendant had denied all charges, claiming that there were no solicitations to three of the men, and that she was joking in a conversation with Earl Gernon that was captured on a secret recording.
Christopher Paxton QC, prosecuting, said that while Breeden's efforts were "determined", none of the men attempted to carry out her plan.
He told jurors that Breeden met Mr Parkes at university in 1999, and they married in 2004.
But the couple separated in 2008 and Mr Parkes was granted custody of a child in 2014 "following protracted proceedings in the family courts".
You must know someone who can help me get rid of him.
Victoria Breeden
He said: “It's this, we say, which drove the defendant in whole or in part to seek retribution against Mr Parkes. We say that one of her motives was revenge."
The offending happened over a period of more than five years and Mr Paxton said Breeden was "deadly serious in what she sought".
Breeden was found guilty of endeavouring to persuade Hamish Lowry-Martin to murder Mr Parkes between January 1 2014 and December 31 2014.
Mr Paxton said that Breeden asked Mr Lowry-Martin if he would "do her a favour and sort out her ex-husband as he was a b*****d".
After Mr Lowry-Martin declined, the defendant asked him if he "knew people back in Scotland who were real nutters" and said she could "get together £5,000", Mr Paxton said.
HITMEN
She was also found guilty of endeavouring to persuade Graham Wall, a former boyfriend, to murder Mr Parkes between October 19 2018 and October 3 2019.
Breeden allegedly said to Mr Wall "you must know someone who can help me get rid of him", Mr Paxton said.
She was also convicted of trying to persuade Earl Gernon to murder Mr Parkes on October 1 2019.
Mr Paxton said that Mr Wall made a secret mobile phone recording of a conversation between Breeden and Mr Gernon.
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Mr Wall suspected that Breeden was being unfaithful and had left the device on the record setting in a cupboard under the stairs at her home before he went to work, Mr Paxton said.
In the recording, Breeden asks Mr Gernon "how easy would it be to make someone disappear", said Mr Paxton.
She was cleared of soliciting another former boyfriend, handyman Daniel Proctor, to murder Mr Parkes between November 1 2015 and June 1 2016.
Breeden will be sentenced on May 15 at the Old Bailey.
