Woman pleaded: I want hitman to kill me

A 53-year-old woman was so depressed and desperate to end her life that she agreed to pay a friend to arrange for a hitman to kill her, a court heard.

Christine Ryder ended up handing over a total of £20,000 to Kevin Reeves after he agreed to murder her himself.

But Reeves, 40, of Saltings Road, Snodland, near Rochester, failed to keep his side of the bargain and she shopped him to the police.

Now he has been jailed for 15 months after being convicted of deception.

"He simply had the money for his own purposes and had no intention of using it for the purpose she directed – to have her killed or kill her himself," said Miss Moore-Graham.