Hired to murder a woman, Hitman was foiled by her Staffordshire bull terrier named Princess

A hitman hired to murder a woman was instead foiled by her Staffordshire bull terrier princess after the faithful dog woke her owner with a “long growl”.

Intended victim Tracy Devonshire, 43, woke up to see hitman Trefor Jones, 38, standing over her at her flat in Hitchen, Hertfordshire.

He tried to apologize by saying, ‘I wanted to give your dog a kiss.’

Jones, from Hampshire, and Ms Devonshire’s ex Mukhtar Lail, from Stotfold in Bedfordshire, have been convicted at St Albans Crown Court of conspiracy to murder by giving her a fatal drug overdose.

A hitman hired to murder a woman was instead foiled by her Staffordshire bull terrier princess after the faithful dog woke her owner with a “long growl” (file image).

Lail, from Stotfold, and Jones, from Southsea, denied conspiracy to commit murder between December 27, 2021 and January 14 last year, but were convicted by the jury.

Lail was also convicted of conspiracy to pervert justice.

Prosecutors said Lail offered Jones £15,000 to kill Ms Devonshire with a lethal dose of heroin.

Ms Devonshire was saved when her dog, a Staffie named Princess, let out “the deepest and longest growl” she had ever heard.

She fell asleep on the sofa again, only to be woken up by Princess for the second time. Jones stood over her again.

Prosecutor Nathan Rasiah KC said Southsea Jones was offered £15,000 to kill Ms Devonshire by Mukhtar Lail, with whom she was in an abusive relationship in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Lail, 53, from Stotfold, Bedfordshire, is said to have ordered the killing after Devonshire allegedly molested him in front of his young daughter.

The prosecutor told a jury at St Albans Crown Court: “This case involves a assassination plot. Lail would pay Jones to kill her by giving her a lethal dose of heroin.

“They’ve been in a relationship for years. It was an abusive relationship. Lail was a Class A drug dealer and she was addicted to heroin.’

They separated and although she had seen him at Baldock and Letchworth, they had not spoken to each other.

In December 2021, she saw him in Baldock and asked Lail if she was a woman she knew. He replied, “No, I’m married.”

While in Letchworth town center with her brother, she saw Lail with his child and asked him if he had recently been with the same woman.

Lail responded by saying “F*** you”.

This, Mr Rasiah said, was what prompted Lail’s decision to have her killed.

He said he contacted Jones, who had moved to the south coast from the area. In the past he is said to have used it to attack someone’s house with gasoline.

Mr Rasiah said: “Lail offered Jones £15,000 to kill Tracy Devonshire. The plan was to give her a lethal dose of heroin to make it look like an accidental overdose.”

Lail is said to have given Jones heroin and cocaine to her apartment. Mrs. Devonshire let him in. She had been heroin free for two years and didn’t take any.

Jones, from Hampshire, and Ms Devonshire’s ex, Mukhtar Lail, from Stotfold in Bedfordshire, have been convicted at St Albans Crown Court (file picture) of conspiracy to murder by giving her a fatal drug overdose

Both were on cocaine before Ms Devonshire, who was also on sedatives, fell asleep on the sofa.

The next day, after failing to administer a lethal injection, Jones told her, “I’m here to kill you.” He said Lail should pay him £15,000 but then realized she wasn’t such a bad person.

Ms Devonshire called her brother and sister, who first secretly recorded a conversation with Jones in which he told them about the conspiracy. When Jones left, the police were called.

Prosecutors claimed Lail tried to persuade Ms Devonshire not to go to court by sending two men to her flat on February 3 last year. They arrived in surgical masks.

One said he was from the council and was there to give her a Covid test. She was on the phone at the time and told her interlocutor that she had called the police. Money was also offered to her, it said.

Lail’s address was searched on January 13 and heroin and cocaine were seized, along with over £20,000 in cash and a large amount of euros. When asked by the police after his arrest, he replied “no comment”.

When Jones was arrested, he gave police a prepared statement stating that he had agreed to create a threatening message for Tracy Devonshire so they could get the council to move her. Jones has not testified.

On the witness stand, Lail said he was in a relationship with Tracy Devonshire in April 2003.

In March 2005 he was arrested for drug offenses and sentenced to 6 years in prison. The relationship did not continue after that, but he occasionally saw her around town.

He said that when she accused him of having a sexual relationship with another woman, he simply said, “Whatever” and moved on.

Lail told the jury he provided Jones with drugs to sell and never asked him to kill Tracy. He denied paying off her and her family.

Judge Richard Foster will sentence her at a later date.