KEY witness Debra Benjamin told a court yesterday that a business card showing her in a bikini and featuring the words "real dominatrix" and "resistance is futile" was for a dance show she had planned to set up.

Ms Benjamin, 44, told the trial of Anthea Jane Jones, who is known by her middle name, the dominatrix show was purely just a dance show and was not of a sexual nature.

Cardiff crown court heard that the card featured Ms Benjamin, who worked as a carer for Jones' disabled son, Alex, in a bikini and offered private sessions.

The court also heard suggestions from defence counsel Richard Smith that Ms Benjamin had been "playing out a role in your spare time as a dominatrix".

Ms Benjamin replied: "I was looking at putting on a dance show. I quite enjoy dancing on the stage but unfortunately I never got it together." Ms Benjamin described it as "harmless fun" and said her partner would never allow her to indulge in anything lewd.

She said she was "extremely offended" by suggestions made in court that she had worked as an escort.

And Ms Benjamin denied allegations that she had exaggerated her story after telling the court that her friend, Leonard Loveridge, was shocked by Jones offering to pay him to kill her wealthy husband, Francis Jones, 23 years her senior.

Jones, 37, of Hafod Cottage, Blackrock, Clydach, is accused of soliciting Mr Loveridge to murder Llanhilleth pharmacist Francis Jones between January 1, 2003, and August 23, 2005.

Richard Smith, defending, said Ms Benjamin was acting out a role and exaggerating her claims after becoming a police informant.

Ms Benjamin told the jury she had not initially thought Jones serious about her desire to kill her husband, but said she later became concerned after Jones kept bringing the subject up.

"I was beginning to think there was a pattern emerging. I thought, hang on a minute, she is being serious here," Ms Benjamin said.

Ms Benjamin contacted police in March last year after the third conversation. She denied talking to one of Jones' former lovers about the possibility of taping her for the police.

Ms Benjamin previously told the court Jones, whom the court heard had a string of affairs, had planned for someone to run her husband off the road and down a steep gorge.

She also alleged Jones described other possible methods of killing her husband, including a fake robbery after he finished work.

Ms Benjamin denied allegations that she had anything to gain from becoming a police informant. She also denied allegations that she had gone to Francis Jones to ask for between £250,000 and £300,000 for a new business venture.

Prosecutor Mark Evans, QC, previously told the court if Jones' husband had died she would have stood to inherit millions of pounds.