JONES' former lover told the court how she said he could live a life of luxury if he killed her husband.

Leonard Loveridge said Jones had come to him, upset after an argument with her husband.

Mr Loveridge told the jury that Jones suggested someone could hit him over the head after work, which would result in him not coming home. She then suggested Mr Loveridge could be the person to do it, he said.

Mr Loveridge, who was £70,000 in debt at the time of the conversation early last year, said: "She said if I did that I could have lived a life of luxury. It wasn't a joke, but I didn't take it as 100 per cent serious, either."

He added that no amount of money was worth taking another life. Mr Loveridge told the court he had asked Jones to divorce her husband but she said it was not an option as she needed financial security for herself and her disabled son, Alex.

"She wasn't going to leave with nothing. The woman just wanted the money," he said.

Under cross-examination, Mr Loveridge denied suggestions that his opinion of the seriousness of Jones' comments had been coloured by conversations with Ms Benjamin.

He said "My opinion is based on fact because I went through it." Proceeding