A terminally ill husband today told his incredible tale of survival throughout an alleged plot by his wife and her lover to kill him.
Raymond Weatherall described the moment he was shot through the face, with the bullet passing in one cheek and out the other.
It was one of a series of alleged attempts on his life by wife Hayley, his best pal Glenn Pollard, and Pollard’s then-19-year-old daughter Heather.
The 53-year-old was also set alight in a swimming pool heater explosion and plots were outlined to kill him by poisoning him, injecting him with a fatal dose of insulin and drowing him, Maidstone Crown Court heard.
The dad-of-seven, who was diagnosed with seven brain tumours in 2015, recalled the moment he was shot through the face.
He was working at Sandwich Marina in Kent his tree surgeon son Sam and daughter Jade, when he was shot at 2pm on November 29 last year.
He told the court Glenn Pollard, his wife’s lover, knew of their whereabouts but he thought there was “nothing untoward at that point”.
He said he was fired at as he was squatting down on the riverbank, having a smoke and drink break.
“Next thing I know there was this almighty crack and I thought something had fallen out the tree and hit me on the head. But it became very evident within seconds it was not that,” Mr Weatherall told the jury.
“Blood was starting to pour out of my nose, out of one of my ears. I couldn’t breathe with the amount of blood that was in my throat and nose.
“It took me a couple of minutes to sort of semi regain my senses, when I blew all the blood out my nose to get rid of it so I could actually breathe.
“Then I proceeded to calm my son down. He was absolutely hysterical, running around the yard screaming, shouting, crying. I had to get hold of him.
“It might well sound very strange but I said ‘Sam, look at me’. He said ‘Dad, Dad, is it your head?’ I said ‘It is my head boy, but it ain’t my tumours’.
“I was aware of an ambulance being called. But I was well on top of it all by then. I got to grips with what happened. I knew I had been shot. It became so evident.
“I had a hole here (pointing to right cheek) and a hole there and there was blood but I knew I was alright.”
Mr Weatherall was taken to hospital, where he was visited by both his wife and Pollard.
The court heard that while there, Weatherall - who has three children to Raymond - sent a text to her lover saying: “Whoever it was you paid to shoot Ray, they didn’t do a good job, did they?”
To which Pollard replied: “I’m not paying him the full amount.”
Despite his injuries, Mr Weatherall - who also has Type 2 diabetes - was allowed home that day. He required what was called a major facial split but it could not be done due to his tumours.
He told the jury fragments of the bullet still remain in his face.
He said: “I had a job to open my mouth and get my tongue out. They reckon it damaged all the nerves in my jaw. I struggled for a few days but pushed on. I am now 99.9% sorted.”
Mr Weatherall also told how he was immediately set ablaze after igniting the solid fuel boiler at his family home in June last year.
He jumped into the pool to extinguish the flames and was left with second degree burns to his shoulders, arms, hands and legs.
It is alleged that was the first of the attempts on his life during the conspiracy to murder him between June 1 last year and March 31 this year.
The court heard the explosion happened about 10 days before Mr Weatherall attended his brother’s funeral.
It is alleged it was at this funeral that the affair between his wife and best friend began.
They became infatuated, the court heard, engaging in intimate phone conversations and exchanging explicit photos of each other on WhatsApp.
At the start of their trial, it was said that despite dying from cancer, they embarked “on a mission” to get him “out of the way”.
In March this year Hayley broke down and confessed about the plots to her husband, the court heard.
He told the court he found out that the affair was instigated by Hayley at the funeral of his brother, Kevin, on June 12 last year.
She sent Pollard a text complimenting him on how smart he looked in his suit, to which he replied that she looked ‘not too bad herself’.
After his wife’s alleged confession to him, Mr Weatherall reported it to police.
The trial continues.