Liam Smith: Former lovers guilty of gun and acid attack murder

A woman and her former boyfriend have been found guilty of murdering a man she met on a dating app.

Liam Smith, 38, was shot in the face and then had acid poured over him in Shevington, Wigan, on 24 November 2022.

Rachel Fulstow, from York, denied being involved while Michael Hillier, from Sheffield, admitted manslaughter.

Mr Smith's family shouted "yes" and "thank you so much" as the pair were found guilty of murder at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

Hillier, 39, who was handcuffed in the dock, stared over at his 37-year-old former partner as the verdicts were returned by the jury after six hours and 44 minutes of deliberations.

The court had heard Fulstow met Mr Smith on Tinder and the pair went on a date in York in 2019.

She claimed they then had "non-consensual sex" at a hotel, but she did not describe it as rape and said she went for lunch with Mr Smith the following day.

In 2021, she began a relationship with Hillier, who she said could be verbally abusive and unpredictable and had not been happy she had a one-night stand with Mr Smith.

She claimed that the first she knew of the attack on Mr Smith was when Hillier turned up at her house the following morning and told her.

The court heard the couple went on holiday to Jamaica together days after the killing.

Hillier, who told the court he was concerned in the production and distribution of a large-scale cannabis operation, said they had both planned the attack on Mr Smith after Fulstow told him she had been "graphically raped" by the father-of-two.

He told the court they had "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".

The public gallery in court was cleared during his evidence as members of Mr Smith's family reacted to his description of Mr Smith as a rapist.

In his summing up, Judge Maurice Greene told jurors they did not need to decide what happened between Mr Smith and Fulstow, stating: "As to what really happened on that night, we will probably never know and it probably doesn't matter."

The court heard Mr Smith was lured out of his house at about 18:40 GMT by Hillier, who shot him in the face before pouring acid on to his face and body, followed by soda crystals.

Fulstow's phone showed she had made internet searches for Mr Smith's electrical company, weather conditions on the day of the attack and Mitsubishi Shogun cars like the one used by Hillier and later burned out.

Two jurors appeared tearful as both were found guilty of murder.

Fulstow was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

The case was adjourned for sentencing on Thursday.

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