AN EX-Army sergeant who attempted to murder his wife by tampering with her parachute and sabotaging a gas valve at their shared home has been jailed for life.

Emile Cilliers has been jailed at Winchester Crown Court for at least 18 years.

The 38-year-old had pleaded not guilty to attempting to murder his wife Victoria Cilliers, a highly-experienced parachuting instructor.

Cilliers tampered with her parachute before a jump, causing her to suffer near-fatal injuries when her main and reserve parachutes failed during a jump at Netheravon Airfield near Salisbury in Wiltshire.

The incident, on April 5, came less than a week after Cilliers loosened a gas valve in the family home in the hope his wife would turn on the cooker and create an explosion.

His two young children were also at home at the time.

Cilliers denied two counts of attempted murder and one count of recklessly endangering the lives of his two young children but was convicted by a jury.

Amanda Sawetz, from the CPS, said: “This was a complicated case as the prosecution had to prove that Emile Cilliers intended to kill his wife on two separate occasions. 

“One of the essential aspects of the prosecution case was to eliminate any suggestion of accident or negligence on the part of Netheravon Army Parachute Association.

"It became apparent from an early stage that the only possible cause of the failure of both the main chute and the reserve was deliberate human intervention.

“The evidence all pointed to Emile Cilliers as the man with the motive and the opportunity to commit these calculated attempts to murder his wife.

“The CPS worked in partnership with Wiltshire Police to build on their painstaking investigation and present a compelling case to the jury.”