A woman dumped by her younger lover hired two men to beat him up before she tried to set him on fire in broad daylight outside a Wolverhampton school, a court heard today.

Yvette Smith, aged 46, was devastated when 32-year-old delivery driver Matthew Hipkin ended their relationship and she “wanted him to feel her pain”, it was said.

The victim, who was struck on the head from behind by the men, was doused in petrol by Smith who had watched the attack from a distance disguised behind dark glasses and a headscarf, John Attwood, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court.

He said an envelope of money to pay the thugs was found in her car nearby.

The attack happened outside Pennfields Special School in June. The jury heard that Mr Hipkin managed to kick Smith, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, to the ground before calling for help.

Mr Hipkin ended the relationship in January but Smith, of Langley Road, Merry Hill, refused to accept it was over, said Mr Attwood.

“She then gave vent to her feelings which she intended to be a fatal attack on the man who spurned her,” said Mr Attwood. Smith denies attempted murder.

The case continues.