Murder bid lover has cut in 'life' sentence
A jilted lover who tried to set fire to her toyboy outside a Black Country school after he ended the relationship has had her potentially lifelong jail term overturned.
Multiple sclerosis sufferer, Yvette Maxine Smith, aged 47, hired two men to beat up delivery driver Matthew Hipkins before she doused him in petrol outside Penn Fields School, Wolverhampton.
His life may only have been saved by the fact that Smith's Zippo lighter failed to work. Smith, of Langley Road, Merry Hill, was convicted of attempted murder.
In March she was told to serve a minimum of six years after being convicted in December but the open-ended sentence meant she could have no hope of release until she could satisfy authorities she no longer posed a serious danger.
Yesterday at London's Appeal Court, Smith appeared in a wheelchair and wept as judges allowed her appeal after her counsel, Stefan Kolodynski, said her fast deteriorating condition meant she was unlikely ever again to form an intimate relationship with a man.
He told the judges her condition had worsened dramatically since her trial and that she could now only walk a few paces on crutches.
The court cut her jail term to 12 years, of which she will serve half before qualifying for automatic release. Once freed, she will have an additional five years in the community on extended licence and face recall if she offends.
Mr Hipkins, 14 years Smith's junior, almost paid with his life after breaking off their relationship. She paid £400 to hire two "hard men", one of whom wielded a baseball bat, who beat him to the ground outside the school in June last year.
Smith poured petrol over her former lover but her lighter failed to spark. She was also drenched in petrol and said she intended to incapacitate Mr Hipkins before committing suicide in front of him.
Ex-Black Country kickboxing champion Troy Ktori, who helped Smith by passing on a number for a hitman, was spared jail last month. Ktori, 21, of Old Heath Road, Wednesfield, said he did not know the name of the man Smith recruited for the attack and got a one-year jail sentence, suspended under supervision for 18 months.
Allowing the appeal, Mr Justice Collins said Smith's threat was lessened by here deteriorating condition.
