Liam Smith: Murder-accused 'took vigilante route' over rape claim

A man who shot and threw acid over a father-of-two has told a court he and his girlfriend decided to "go down the vigilante route" after she told him she had been raped.

Michael Hillier, 39, denies murdering Liam Smith but admits manslaughter.

The 38-year-old's body was found near his home in Wigan, on 24 November 2022.

Mr Hillier described himself as a "knight in shining armour" and alleged he plotted the attack with his girlfriend.

His girlfriend, Rachel Fulstow, 37, who met Mr Smith on a Tinder date in 2019, denies murder and perverting the course of justice.

Giving evidence at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Mr Hillier said he met Ms Fulstow on the dating app Hinge in November 2020 and became "completely besotted" with her.

Mr Hillier, who told the jury he was "concerned in the production and distribution of a large-scale cannabis operation", said his partner "confided" in him in January last year that she had been "graphically raped" by Mr Smith at a hotel.

He said he felt strongly that "a crime as heinous as rape" should be reported to the police, but he said Ms Fulstow felt she would not be believed.

He added: "We decided jointly between the two of us that we would deal with the matter ourselves and seek justice ourselves and go down the vigilante route.

"It's not surprising given only 1.6% of all reported rapes make it to court."

He said he asked Ms Fulstow to tell him all the details of the incident if he was to carry out an attack on Mr Smith.

"I need to know every nitty gritty bit of detail so the attack can be justified," he told the court.

Mr Hillier alleged he and Ms Fulstow had "bounced around" ideas about how to carry out the attack on Mr Smith.

He said Ms Fulstow "most definitely saw me as kind of like her knight in shining armour".

He told the court he had modified a blank firing gun, but believed it would only stun rather than seriously injure or kill.

Mr Hillier said that on the day of the attack Ms Fulstow packed him a lunchbox full of food supplies, as well as diazepam, hydration tablets and headache tablets.

He told the court he had driven from his home on Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, to Kilburn Drive in Shevington, where Mr Smith lived, on the morning of 24 November and waited there all day, before the attack at about 18:40 GMT.

Mr Hillier said he had approached the house because he was not sure if Mr Smith was at home and, after seeing him inside, returned to his Mitsubishi Shogun vehicle, which Mr Smith approached a few minutes later.

He said when Mr Smith approached the car, he opened the door and called him a "vile, disgusting rapist".

He added: "He knew exactly what I was talking about."

Judge Maurice Greene ordered the public gallery be cleared as members of Mr Smith's family shouted obscenities at Mr Hillier.

Describing the attack, Mr Hillier said: "I didn't want to let Rachel down. I pulled the trigger."

He claimed he believed Mr Smith to be unconscious and then poured a bottle of drain cleaner over him.

The court heard that after burning out his car, Mr Hillier returned to Ms Fulstow's home in York where he learnt Mr Smith had died.

He told the court: "I said to Rachel 'I know it's not what we planned but are you happy that he's died?'

"She said 'Of course I'm glad he's died, who wouldn't be after what he did to me'."

Turning to the dock, Mr Hillier added: "Remember saying that, Rachel?"

Mr Hillier said his friends knew someone had "tasked" him with "harming a rapist", although they did not all know Ms Fulstow was involved.

He described a friend trying to talk him out of it on one occasion, when Ms Fulstow was also present.

He said: "Rachel said, I can't remember the exact words, but she was saying she understands why I was doing it, fully supports me, and what I was doing was a just and noble cause."

Ms Fulstow, of Andrew Drive, York, previously told the trial that she met Mr Smith in September 2019 after they connected through the dating app Tinder.

She said they had sex, which she said was not consensual but she did not regard it as a rape.

She denies persuading her partner to carry out the attack.

Mr Hillier told the jury he had struggled with mental health issues and was addicted to diazepam and sleeping tablets.

The trial continues.

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