SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
Anger over new telly documentary that gives prisoner Michael Hollins a platform to cast doubt over his conviction.. he attempted to murder his wife for £500,000 insurance to fund his secret life with another woman
A failed property tycoon who tried to murder his wife in a hit- and- run will claim in a controversial documentary that he was jailed simply for being a womaniser. Michael Hollins will feature in the Channel 4 show complaining that he
was only convicted because he was exposed as a liar and a cheat.
The hour-long documentary will not tell viewers the full story of why the 47-year- old was caged for a minimum of 14 years.
Instead, Hol lins wi l l be seen moaning about how being a serial adulterer landed him in prison and impacted on his religious father.
But we can reveal that Hollins was jailed after being found guilty of mowing down wife Chloe near their home in Hereford in a Land Rover he had bought earlier.
He tried to kill her and collect a £500,000 insurance policy when his double life began to unravel.
The brute wanted to pocket the money and move to Scotland with his secret mistress.
Chloe suffered a fractured pelvis, a broken leg and internal injuries and spent a month in hospital after the 2009 attack.
Life Behind Bars: Visiting Hour – produced by Crow TV – will be screened on Tuesday night after cameras were allowed inside Low Moss Prison, near Glasgow.
Hollins’ appearance has sparked fury among campaigners who have criticised Channel 4 for allowing him to cast doubt over his conviction.
And friends of Chloe say she was left stunned when the programme makers informed her of their plans.
One said: “Chloe is very surprised that the programme is coming out.
“The production company sent a letter to say it was going ahead.
“She doesn’t really want to see it. Chloe knows what happened and she doesn’t feel she needs to give her side of the story.
“She just wants to move on with her life and put all this behind her.”
Hollins was jailed at Worcester Crown Court in 2009 after a jury found him guilty of attempted murder. The court heard how he wanted to kill his wife of 14 years and had a mistress, Franca Bianchet, in Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire. Holl ins lived with Chloe and their two daughters in Hereford but he was also in a 110-year relationship with BiBianchet and they had a dadaughter and son together. Jurors heard HollHollins met a string of other wwomen for sex after contacting cont them on an adult wwebsite. He says on the sshow – where he is referred to only as Mike: “I’m spendinspending time in prison due to the hurt I caused a lot of people. “The juryju felt I was a lying, cheat che i ng person per – and I was.” Holl H ins also als tells how his adultery affected his retired church minister dad John. He says: “I want my father to know in his heart that I love him – that he was a good father to me, and he still is.
“My father was gutted. I had to tel l him the truth about my infidelity, about having affairs – multiple affairs.
“He’s trying to figure out who his son is, because he thought I was something else. It hurt him far deeper than I will ever know.”
His dad is f ilmed making the 800-mile round trip from Cornwall to Low Moss. He tells producers: “Michael was sentenced for attempting to murder his wife and I didn’t believe that he had done it.
“To me, the worst thing in his book was he had a mistress.”
Yesterday, Mhairi McGowan, head of domestic charity Assist, said: “It’s really disappointing that the issue being highlighted is the effect on the family relationships of someone in prison. The minimisation of the attempted murder of his wife is
He appears to believe the only thing he did wrong was to be unfaithful
staggering from both the prisoner and his father.
“He ran her down and she spent a month in hospital.
“Hollins is more than a liar and a cheat – he is a perpetrator of domestic abuse and would do well to look at his attitudes to women to ensure he is no longer a danger to any others on his release.”
Dr Marsha Scott, chief executive at Scottish Women’s Aid, said: “When men abuse and murder women, the impact reaches far beyond their intimate relationship. It affects children, families, communities, friendships and beyond.
“Too often, we focus on the abuser’s thoughts, his feelings, his reasons.
“But as we excuse and explain his rationale, we forget that his actions were a result of his choices – and as we do that, we make her invisible.
“We stand with Chloe and all victims of domestic abuse whose experiences are forgotten and voices silenced. Domestic abuse is unacceptable and Women’s Aid will continue to support all those affected.”
Hollins was branded a danger to women during his trial and told if his botched murder bid had been successful, he would be facing a minimum of 28 years behind bars.
The court heard that “lust, sex and money” motivated the failed property developer, who had decided to “rid himself of a wife he didn’t love in favour of more exciting women”.
He told police he had been home at the time of the hit-and-run – but they later found the blood-covered vehicle he had secretly bought.
A trawl of his computer records revealed that while doctors were operating on his wife, he had been studying her life insurance policy.
Several former mistresses gave evidence of his cheating – including Helensburgh B&B owner Bianchet.
She knew he was married but believed he was separated from his wife.
Hollins is one of four prisoners from Low Moss featured in the programme. Channel 4 said: “This one- off documentary shows the realities of prison visits and how prisoners’ families cope with the crimes they have committed.
“The nature of the crimes committed by the inmates featured are fully explained to the audience.
“Comments made by one relative are countered by the audience being made aware that the prisoner was convicted of the crime.”
But when Hollins appears on screen, narrator Gina McKee tells viewers: “Despite pleading his innocence, Mike was convicted of attempted murder in 2009.”
No mention is made of his victim or the circumstances.
McKee goes on to say: “His court case exposed a clandestine double life.”
In a highly emotive conversation, Hollins tells his father he doesn’t want him to die while he’s in prison.
Soft piano music plays as he says: “One of my nightmare scenarios is that I’m stuck here for so long that I’m not able to look after you when you get a bit older. I just want you to stay alive.”
He then tells his dad that the “best- case scenario” is that he’ll get out in six years.
The programme ends with Hollins in his cell writing and viewers are told he recently won the prison’s creative writing competition.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: “People watching this documentary will be astonished at the tone of this interview, which paints a very sympathetic picture of a man who tried to kill his wife.
“He wa s found g ui l t y of attempted murder but appears to believe the only thing he did wrong was to be unfaithful.”
The Scottish Prison Service said: “We work with a number of filmmakers who have been allowed to film inside prisons.
“The SPS insist that those impacted by crime committed by inmates featured are informed.
“The taxpayer funds the prison service and it is important that they see how prisoners live.”