A man who tried to hire a hitman to break his former wife's legs and cause her brain damage was trapped in a police "sting", a jury was told.

An undercover policeman told Bradford Crown Court that he was offered £2,000 by Yamritlall Futhee to carry out the attack.

The officer, referred to only as 'Billy', gave evidence from behind a screen at Bradford Crown Court, to protect his identity.

The court heard that Futhee blamed his former wife Rookmala for ruining him and did not want her to enjoy the money he had been ordered to pay her following their 'acrimonious' divorce.

Last December, he hired what he thought was a hitman to cause her serious harm, said prosecutor Graham Hyland QC.

But the attack never took place because the 'hitman' was an undercover police officer and their conversations had been secretly tape-recorded.

Futhee, 50, of Thackeray Road, Ravenscliffe, Bradford, denies a charge of incitement to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

Mr Hyland said the couple, who are both from Mauritius, met in Bradford in the seventies when they were studying to become nurses.

They married in 1976 and later had two daughters, but the marriage deteriorated in the mid-eighties and they finally divorced in 1988.

Both parties later remarried, the defendant and his new wife having two more children.

There were numerous court hearings to resolve financial disputes between Futhee and his former wife. In July last year he was ordered by a judge to pay her £12,500 in maintenance arrears for the children, and her legal costs.

The outcome of that court hearing 'preyed heavily' on his mind and he told one of his daughters that he had lost everything and his second marriage had fallen apart.

"It was in this frame of mind that he resolved to punish his ex-wife to prevent her enjoying what he regarded as her ill-gotten gains,'' said Mr Hyland.

But his plans or intentions became known to the police and an undercover operation was set up.

Futhee had meetings with 'Billy' at the Hartshead Moor Services on the M62 and at a Little Chef off the M606 in Bradford.

He described his former wife as a 'greedy bitch' and a fee of £2,000 was agreed for 'Billy' to cause her serious harm, said Mr Hyland.

Futhee supplied a video tape of his former wife and even went with Billy in his car to look at her home address.

Shortly after he was told by telephone that the job had been done, Futhee was arrested and his home was searched.

A building society account book showed that £2,000 had been withdrawn shortly before.

Futhee insisted that money was to repay the mother of his second wife, but the prosecution claim it was to fund an attack on his former wife, said Mr Hyland.

The trial continues.

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