Guilty, TV producer who hired hitmen to kill lover
... but she still refused to give evidence against him
A RETIRED TV producer last night faced dying in jail after he was convicted of offering three men up to £250,000 to murder his partner – even though she refused to give evidence against him.
David Harris, 68, insisted he was researching a book when he asked the men to kill Hazel allinson, also 68, for her money.
His partner refused to assist the prosecution against him – and even offered to give evidence in his defence, it can now be revealed.
She also refused to sign a 220-page statement compiled by police from long hours of interviews about Harris’s lies to cover his affair, meaning it could not be quoted in court.
Her refusals could have helped him get off scot free – but now it is likely she will be visiting him in jail.
Harris tried to hire the hitmen to kill Mrs allinson – whom he met in 1989 when she was a script manager on ITV drama The Bill, and he was the location manager – after being left broke from lavishing tens of thousands of pounds on his prostitute mistress Ugne Cekaviciute, 28.
an Old Bailey jury yesterday unanimously found him guilty of three counts of soliciting to murder, which can incur a life sentence.
Judge anne Molyneux told the court she was concerned about the continuing danger Harris posed, saying: ‘He exhibited an ability and a willingness to lie, almost instinctively. and he has demonstrated a lack of empathy, and a callousness and willingness to do what is necessary to achieve his aim.’
The jury heard that Harris had been leading a seedy double life since he and Mrs allinson retired to the idyllic village of amberley in West Sussex in 2010. He told the court that his partner, who had suffered from breast cancer, did not enjoy sex so he sought out prostitutes over a ‘20-mile radius’ from their home. In October 2011 he met Miss Cekaviciute and became besotted with her.
Former alcoholic Harris relied on his state pension plus around £100 a month from a private pension. He therefore leeched money off Mrs allinson. lavishing gifts and nights in hotels on his vice girl lover, Harris worked his way through £50,000 Mrs allinson gave, along with a £16,000 loan from neighbour Mike Toynbee.
left penniless, Harris decided last February that his only option was to have Mrs allinson murdered so he could inherit her £1million cottage.
He found four supposed professional killers, and offered them up to £250,000 for a ‘fatal accident’.
But luckily for Mrs allinson the first hitman, named only as ‘Soldier’, ran off with a £250 advance Harris paid him. He could not be traced. The second, a tyre fitter from South london, tried to alert Mrs allinson.
and the third was so alarmed he went to police. as a result, the fourth was actually an undercover officer. Harris sat in the officer’s car in October and told how he had daily considered pushing Mrs allinson off a cliff.
Police swooped the next day, bursting into a South london bed and breakfast and catching Harris and Miss Cekaviciute in bed together. She was freed without charge but he has been in custody ever since. He claimed he had to pretend to want a real ‘hit’ to gather material for a novel.
Mrs allinson, who sat in the Old Bailey for days hearing the damning evidence, has not produced a Victim Impact Statement for the court.
During the trial she was seen chuckling indulgently at Harris from the public gallery, prompting him to mouth protestations of love to her.
She was not in court yesterday and was unavailable for comment.
In the lithuanian city of Kaunas, Miss Cekaviciute’s mother Ingrida told the Daily Mail she could not believe her daughter had sex with a pensioner, saying: ‘She was like a nice lapel to the man, that’s all.’
‘Chuckling indulgently’