A terminally ill man is hoping to stay alive long enough to get back together with his wife, even though she plotted to him three times.
Hayley Weatherall and her lover Glenn Pollard are for conspiring to kill Ray Weatherall, 59, diagnosed with brain in 2015 and given 18 months to live. Ray survived being shot in the face, a heater explosion, and a scheme to kill him with a mix of sleeping pills and insulin.
But, despite all this, he still loves Hayley, 38, and forgives her. He is “hanging on” until she completes her minimum term in nine years. Ray’s best friend Pollard, 55, and Hayley hatched a plan to be together more quickly following Ray’s diagnosis. Pollard’s daughter, Heather, 26, was also involved.
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Heather shot Ray in the face near his home in Sandwich, Kent. But the bullet hit his right cheekbone. Ray is still scarred from the second-degree burns he suffered in a swimming pool heater explosion, which a court heard was part of the would-be killers’ plot.
Hayley and Pollard also discussed poisoning him with sleeping pills and insulin, and pushing him overboard on a fishing trip. Heather did internet searches on “Techniques on silent killing”, “Creative ways to kill someone” and “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught”.
The plot was foiled by who investigated the shooting. In November 2018, Hayley and the Pollards, of West Stourmouth, Kent, were all convicted at Maidstone of conspiracy to murder. Glenn Pollard was sentenced to at least 17 years and Heather a minimum of 15.
Sentencing the trio, Judge Williams said: “This was cruelty of a high degree. Cold, calculated and chilling cruelty. You conspired to murder a man because you believed he stood in your way. Each of you plotted and planned to kill him with determination and persistence.”
Dad-of-seven Ray never wants to see Glenn Pollard again but has “totally forgiven” Hayley. He makes 200-mile round trips to visit her each month in HMP Bronzefield, in Ashford, Surrey, which holds some of the country’s worst female criminals. He said: “My aim is to survive long enough so Hayley can be released from prison and she can come back home. This house is as much hers as it is mine. I can’t wait to have her back. I should’ve been dead years ago.
“It’s a miracle I am here. My aim is to see her walk through that door. I will stay alive long enough for that. People say I’m mad but I don’t care. I visit her each month and we kiss and hug and it is lovely. Hayley was brainwashed. She was a fool. She has always been easily led astray. And she’s serving a life sentence for that stupidity. But I blame my old friend Glenn entirely.”
Ray said each day he wakes up in the morning is a “miracle”. His tumours still need regular treatment. His condition has worsened, he feels weaker but still has lived nearly 10 years longer than expected. He said: “I am going to hold on long enough for her to come out.
"We will have a big party when she’s out. It will be a big celebration. I don’t want Glenn there, I never want to see that man for as long as I live.” Ray claimed that not long after he found out he was dying he told Pollard he would be happy for him and his wife to form a relationship after he died.
Hayley and Ray had been together for nine years and got married in 2015, just before Ray’s cancer diagnosis. The affair and plot to murder him started shortly after that. He has now retired as an odd job man after a career as a bouncer and spends a lot of time at home, with his son William, whose mum is Hayley.
Ray said: “I often sit thinking what on earth was all of that about. But I have had to get on with life. It’s not been easy at times. I have my boy, William, with me. And I just have to wait for Hayley. When I go to the prison they very kindly give us the family room. I am looking forward to being able to spend some proper time with her when she is released.”
