Wigan dad ‘shot in face’ by boyfriend of woman he had ‘one-night stand’ with

A murder trial heard how Wigan dad Liam Smith was ‘shot in the face’ and attacked with acid by the boyfriend of a woman he had a ‘one-night stand’ with.

Liam Smith, 38, was lured out of his home on Kilburn Drive, in Shevington, and blasted at close range with a gun by Michael Hillier, 39, who then poured corrosive liquid – thought to be sulphuric acid – on his face and body, burning away his flesh, a jury at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard yesterday (Tuesday, July 11th).

Mr Smith, a father-of-two, was left for dead in the street just steps away from his home with the chemicals still ‘fizzing’ on his body when he was found in the early evening of November 24th 2022.

The court was told how Mr Smith, an electrician, had had a ‘brief liaison’ with Hillier’s co-accused and former nail technician Rachel Fulstow, 37, who ‘encouraged’ and ‘assisted’ the attack, prosecutors allege.

The next year Fulstow became the girlfriend of Hillier, from Sheffield, with the latter not happy about the ‘one-night stand’ and having been ‘led to believe Fulstow had been raped’, opening prosecutor Jason Pitter KC, told the jury.

Hillier, from Ecclesall Road in Sheffield, has admitted killing Mr Smith after pleading guilty to manslaughter but both Hillier and Fulstow, from Andrew Drive in York, deny murder.

Mr Pitter told the jury the pair had planned the murder and Liam Smith was executed, saying: “Why do we say that? Well, having been drawn out of his house he was blasted, at probably close range, in the face with a shot from a gun.

“That was fatal, it penetrated his brain and would have brought him instantly to the ground.

“However the killer, dressed in a high visibility jacket with a head torch, did not stop there. He then proceeded to pour acid onto the face and body of Liam Smith, followed by soda crystals.

“The result was that his flesh burned away in those areas where the acid made contact with his skin.”

At Minshull Street Crown Court on Tuesday July 11th, Mr Smith’s family became tearful in the public gallery while CCTV footage from the attack was played to the jury, which included the sound of the gun being fired.

Mr Pitter told the jury Mr Smith and Fulstow had the ‘brief liaison’ at a York hotel in 2019 with Fulstow becoming the partner of Hillier the next year, allegedly sparking the murder plot.

He continued: “It appears that he was not happy about the fact of her having had a one night stand and was led to believe that she had been raped.

“We will wait to see what the precise motivation for the killing of Liam Smith was.

“One proper conclusion is that Liam Smith’s brief interaction with Fulstow was in a distorted and extreme way the cause for him being their target. In due course she was to go on to say that she believed that she had not consented to have sex with Liam Smith on that night in the hotel in York which she had booked.

“However, even if that is right, she had put it down to a, ‘misunderstanding’ of the situation between them and that she herself held no ill feeling to Liam Smith.

“It is factually relevant but does not need resolving as to what exactly happened between them. Liam Smith cannot answer for himself. In any event, it is shrouded in uncertainty, even on her version, and would never justify the extreme violence and murder of him.”

Mr Pitter said although Hillier alone carried out the attack, he was not solely responsible for Mr Smith’s death, and that Fulstow ‘played her part’ adding: “The culmination of a well-orchestrated and executed plot. That in effect is what happened to Liam Smith; he was executed.

“He was not working alone. The prosecution say that he was assisted in the organisation, preparation and execution of the attack by the first defendant, Rachel Fulstow, his then girlfriend.”

Jurors were told prosecution evidence includes CCTV and vehicle recognition footage, mobile telephone tracking and internet searches carried out by Fulstow before and after the murder.

“This could not have been a mere coincidence,” Mr Pitter said as he continued: “One conclusion is that attention within the relationship between the defendants was turning onto Liam Smith.

“That use of her telephone we say marks the first significant outward activity towards his killing by them.”

Jurors were told of how a week after the murder both defendants went on holiday for a fortnight to Jamaica. But detectives had managed to trace the Mitsubishi Shogun on false licence plates allegedly used by Hillier during the attack, leading to Hillier, then Fulstow, being arrested.

Both Fulstow and Hillier deny murder. Hillier has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, while Fulstow has pleaded not guilty to the same charge. She also denies a single count of perverting the course of justice.

The continuing trial, which began on Monday, is expected to last up to four weeks.