A quiet holiday caravan in rural Wales became the stage for a near-fatal betrayal when a husband fought off two masked intruders in a violent struggle that prosecutors say was orchestrated by his own wife and her secret lover. Ethel “Michelle” Mills, 46, from Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, and her paramour Geraint Berry, 46, from Clydach, Swansea, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder Christopher Mills on October 21, 2025, at Swansea Crown Court following a two-week trial. The third defendant, Steven Thomas, 47, from Blaengwynfi, Neath Port Talbot, was acquitted of the conspiracy charge but had pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear. The case, which gripped west Wales, revealed months of dark fantasies between Mills and Berry, including plans to poison or smother Christopher, culminating in the September 20, 2024, attack at the couple’s Cenarth caravan. Sentencing is scheduled for November 2025, with prosecutors vowing “consequences” for what they called a “very real plan to take someone’s life.”

The night of terror unfolded at Argoed Meadow camping park near Newcastle Emlyn, where Christopher Mills, a 48-year-old former soldier and veteran, and his wife Michelle were enjoying a weekend getaway. Around 11:30 p.m., after a dinner of drinks and music, a knock echoed at the caravan door. Christopher, peering through the window, saw two figures in balaclavas. “I opened the door, and they jumped me,” he testified, describing how one intruder shoved a pistol into his face while the other wielded cable ties and gloves. The attack lasted minutes but felt eternal: Punches flew, furniture toppled, and Christopher—drawing on his military training—wrestled the gun away, pinning one assailant before the pair fled into the night. Bleeding from facial wounds and bruises, he barricaded the door and called 999, with Michelle dialing seconds later, sobbing that “two men with guns” had burst in.

Initially, it screamed robbery. But Dyfed-Powys Police’s response was swift: Armed units, dog teams, and a National Police Air Service helicopter scoured the area. Within hours, Berry and Thomas were dragged from bushes 200 yards away, hearts pounding and hands trembling. Berry’s backpack yielded damning evidence: Gas masks, cable ties, gloves, a pistol replica, and a sealed envelope containing a forged “suicide note” purportedly from Christopher to Michelle. The letter, scrawled in shaky handwriting, “confessed” to assaults and rapes on his wife, absolving her of blame in his supposed self-demise. “I’ve been a monster,” it read, per court transcripts—a fabrication that unraveled under forensic scrutiny.

Digital forensics sealed the conspiracy. Over 2,300 texts between Michelle and Berry, recovered despite her attempts to delete them, painted a months-long obsession. Their affair, ignited three months prior through a veterans’ charity where Michelle volunteered, escalated from flirtations to fatal fantasies. “I’ve been enthralled by the fantasy of his demise,” Michelle texted Berry in July 2024, describing Christopher as “gropey” and “holding me against my will.” Berry, an ex-Royal Marine with PTSD and psychosis diagnoses, replied with graphic schemes: Smothering Christopher with a pillow, spiking his gravy with antifreeze, or dosing his salad with foxglove poison. “All you need to do is say OK, and it will be done,” he wrote, offering to “pay someone” or “do time” for her. Michelle’s responses fueled the fire: “You know what you’re doing. I trust you.”

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees KC called it “not one, not two, but three attempts” on Christopher’s life, including a prior poisoning plot and a staged “suicide.” Michelle denied perverting justice by fabricating her post-attack account, claiming the texts were “fiction” and an “escape” from marital woes. “I never believed he would act,” she testified, painting Berry as unstable and herself as “dehumanized” by Christopher’s alleged groping. But jurors, after six hours of deliberation, saw through it. “They will now face the consequences,” Detective Inspector Ian Gregory said post-verdict, thanking Christopher for his “integrity.”

Christopher, a stoic veteran with service in Bosnia and the Falklands, emerged scarred but steadfast. Testifying in a wheelchair from rib fractures and a punctured lung, he recounted the fight: “I was fighting for my life.” Outside court, he told reporters, “I’m just glad justice prevailed. It was a nightmare, but we’re moving forward.” The couple, married 25 years with two grown children, had seemed solid—holidays in Cenarth, charity work—but Michelle’s affair cracked the facade. Berry, once a decorated Marine, met her through the charity; Thomas, another veteran, was roped in as muscle.

The trial, held at Swansea Crown Court, drew packed galleries and media scrutiny. Bodycam footage of Berry’s arrest played like a thriller: “I know Chris has been beating his wife,” he ranted to officers, mistaking Christopher for an abuser. Michelle’s police interview, where she laughed nervously at her arrest, fueled perceptions of callousness. “I think that’s something Gaz would write,” she said of the suicide note.

Public reaction has been visceral. In Carmarthenshire, a quiet corner of Wales with rolling hills and holiday parks, the case shattered trust. “It’s like a soap opera gone wrong,” local pub owner Dai Evans told the Western Telegraph. Online, #CaravanConspiracy trended, with forums debating domestic abuse claims—Michelle alleged groping, but Christopher denied it, calling their marriage “passionate but not perfect.” Victim advocates like Women’s Aid Wales praised the verdict but urged support for survivors: “Affairs don’t justify violence, but coercion can blur lines.”

Berry and Thomas, both ex-servicemen, face separate firearms sentencing. Berry’s PTSD history emerged: Diagnosed post-Afghanistan, he self-medicated, but experts testified his actions were deliberate. Thomas, acquitted of conspiracy, claimed ignorance: “I thought it was a prank.”

As sentencing looms, Christopher rebuilds in Llangennech, focusing on healing. “I survived for my family,” he said. For Michelle and Berry, locked in separate cells, the caravan’s ghosts linger—a plot foiled by a husband’s fight and forensics’ unmasking.