Hitman plot woman labelled 'cold and callous'
A mother who plotted to have her partner killed was today labelled as a a 'cold and callous individual' by the investigation's leading detective.
Kelly Cliff was found guilty by a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.
Detective Constable James Connell of Force CID said it was a 'very rare case' and its seriousness cannot be underestimated.
Cliff had admitted saying she wanted Carl Gallagher to 'drop dead' during a conversation with Dalton Bowen, but she insisted she had never actually intended to be taken seriously.
But Mr Bowen was so shocked by the discussion that he went to police.
DC Connell, who is based at Bloxwich police station and led a team of six officers in the investigation, said he was pleased with the verdict after months of hard work.
He said: "She is a cold and callous individual who has now been convicted of a very serious offence. I am looking forward to finding out what sentence she will receive.
"This was a very rare case for us, and I have certainly never come across one like this before.
"She was trying to organise her partner's murder. It was a long investigation, in total we spent eight months working on it, and it took a great deal of hard work to get to this stage, so we are delighted."
Mr Bowen, who had lived near the couple in Kipling Road, Fallings Park in the late 1990s, told the court: "She said she wanted her partner killed, wiped off the face of the earth."
He said: "I was meant to find out who would do it, when and how much."
He said that he was so alarmed by the suggestion that he reported it to the police and Cliff was arrested at the house she shared with Mr Gallagher in Brookfield Road, Aldridge, on May 5.
Cliff, aged 40, denied soliciting Mr Bowen to kill Mr Gallagher between April 2 and April 6. She told a jury that she had talked to Mr Bowen about wishing Mr Gallagher dead but said she was only 'letting off steam' and never thought he would do anything about it.
She said she failed to mention the discussion to detectives following her arrest because she was frightened after being locked up in the cells overnight before being interviewed.
Cliff is due to be sentenced on December 6.
