A dad was killed when he was shot and had acid poured over him in a residential street.
Liam Smith, an electrician from Wigan, was killed on the night of November 24, last year, by the then boyfriend of a woman who he had a "one night stand with" prosecutors allege. They claim the woman had "encouraged" and "assisted" the attack.
Michael Hillier, 39, and Rachel Fulstow, 37, have both pleaded not guilty to Mr Smith’s murder and are on trial at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester. However Hillier, of Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty yesterday, Tuesday July 12, to the manslaughter of Mr Smith, a dad-of-two.
READ MORE: Mum of woman strangled to death tells jury: 'I didn't think he'd kill her'
The court heard how Mr Smith was fatally shot before having sulfuric acid and then soda crystals poured on his face and body, causing his flesh to be "burned away in those areas where the acid made contact with his skin." Opening the case to the jury, Jason Pitter KC described the alleged murder as "probably a misplaced, misguided and wholly disproportionate act of revenge" the MEN reports.
He said that Ms Fulstow was known to Mr Smith and that it appeared that in 2019 they had a "brief liaison" where they spent a night together in a hotel in York. Sometime in the following year or in 2021, Ms Fulstow became the partner of Mr Hillier the court was told.
Mr Pitter said: "The fact and circumstances of that liaison played a role in sparking Hillier into action. It would appear that he was not happy about the fact of her having had a one night stand and was led to believe that she had been raped."
He added: "We will wait to see what the precise motivation for the killing of Liam Smith was ... one proper conclusion is that Liam Smith’s brief interaction with Fulstow was in a distorted and extreme way the cause for him being their target.
"She was to go on to say that she believed that she had not consented to have sex with Liam Smith on that night in the hotel in York which she had booked.
"However, even if that is right she had put it down to a 'misunderstanding' of the situation between them and that she herself held no ill feeling to Liam Smith."
The prosecuting barrister said it was "factually relevant" but that in this case "what actually happened does not need resolving." He added: "Liam Smith cannot answer for himself."
He went on to say: "In any event, it is shrouded by uncertainty, even on her version and would never justify the extreme violence and murder of him."
Members of Mr Smith's family wept in the public gallery as CCTV footage showing his final moments and featuring an audible 'loud bang' which the crown say was the gunshot, was played to the jury.
Mr Pitter said it was the prosecution's case that 'only one person was at the scene and physically carried out that fatal attack, that being Michael Hillier.'
Speaking about the involvement of Rachel Fulstow, Mr Pitter added: "The Prosecution say that you will be able to be sure that she played a full role in participating and encouraging that attack.
"That you will be able to infer from her actions and communications with Hillier before, during the execution of the plan over the days or so preceding it and in the aftermath. If she did so with the intention that Liam Smith would be the victim of at least really serious harm, then she is guilty of murder."
The trial, which is expected to last up to four weeks, continues.
Get the latest crime reports and investigations from Merseyside by signing up to our newsletter
