A shooting which left a man with bullet wounds in his face in an alleged murder plot by his wife, her lover and his daughter has been described in court.

Raymond Weatherall, who was terminally ill with a brain tumour, suffered the injuries in Sandwich Marina after several other attempts to kill him, prosecutors said.

His wife Hayley, her lover and his best friend Glenn Pollard and his daughter Heather are accused of trying to poison him, burn him in an explosion and drown him while out fishing.

Maidstone Crown Court was told the shooting happened at the marina on Wednesday, November 29, when Mr Weatherall was working at a boatyard by the River Stour with his son Sam and daughter Jade, cutting branches from a tree.

Across the boatyard was grassland and a gravel path.

“It might be said to be an ideal place for a gunperson to conceal themselves,” said prosecutor Simon Taylor.

Mr Weatherall was standing by the riverbank when he was hit.

The bullet entered his right cheek between his temple and jaw. Despite the injury, he remained conscious.

Jade made a 999 call at 2.02pm. Paramedics arrived 25 minutes later and he was taken to hospital.

“It might be said to be an ideal place for a gunperson to conceal themselves...” - prosecutor Simon Taylor

Because of Mr Weatherall’s brain tumour, the bullet fragments have not been removed.

A pathologist concluded that if there had been a minor deviation of the bullet, it could have proved fatal.

When police arrived on the scene at 3.04pm no firearms or ammunition were found.

“In essence, this was an investigation which yielded few leads,” said Mr Taylor.

A breakthrough came on January 17 this year when a niece of Mr Weatherall’s, Emma Worsfold, contacted the police and told of her growing suspicions that Pollard and his daughter were involved in the shooting after she became aware of the affair.

Heather Pollard’s car had been left with her dog inside close to the marina. A witness was concerned for the dog and called the police at about noon.

Two Community Support Police Officers removed the dog from the Citroen at 1.15pm. Heather Pollard’s father Glenn was contacted and he assured officers she was safe, but added her dog had been stolen.

Told that the dog was safe, Pollard said his daughter had forgotten about it.

A witness told police she had seen the car drive off at speed at about 2.08pm – six minutes after the 999 call reporting the shooting.

Pollard claimed she went to the location to walk her dog and while there met a man and she had a conversation about her relationship with her girlfriend.

She said she told him she had never had sex with a man and he jokingly made a gesture to have sex. She said she returned the dog to the car and then had sex with the man.

Mr Taylor said Heather Pollard had that day been expected at work at Hawthorn Farm in Ash at 10am.

She told her employer her grandmother had got stuck in a stair lift and she would make it into work later.

She also claimed the reason she did not answer her phone was because she had dropped it in the mud. At 3.15pm she texted her employer to say she was on her way to work.

CCTV showed she was not at work at the time of the shooting. As a young driver, her car was fitted with a tracker which enabled her movements to be checked.

It showed her car was close to the marina at 8.29am and remained there until 2.07pm.

Mr Taylor said the bank opposite where Mr Weatherall was working was the likely location for the shooter. An officer walked between the car and the bank and found it took four minutes.

It seemed Glenn Pollard was not at the marina on the day of the shooting, he said, and must have been orchestrating the murder attempt from afar.

Weatherall was also some distance from the marina but was in regular contact with Glenn Pollard during the day.

When officers went to Pollard’s home in Stourmouth they found gun cabinets under the stairs in the living room. A large number of firearms was seized.

The keys to the cabinet were readily accessible and not kept in a locked or secure container. One long-barrelled bolt action gun with a sight and suppressor attached was of the type consistent with the injury caused to Mr Weatherall.

Analysis of mobile phones showed there were 138 recorded communications between Glenn and Heather Pollard on the day of the shooting.

The daughter sent a text message to her father on November 20 when he was working with Mr Weatherall felling trees in Rainham.

It said: “Not sure I can get through all brambles, will try another route, but maybe think of another option xxx”

They also had a text conversation about how to cause sepsis and injecting someone with insulin after giving them knock out pills.

Heather Pollard’s phone also showed internet searches for methods on how to kill someone.

They included “Techniques of silent killing”, “Creative ways to kill someone”, “Insulin shock”, “Sepsis”, “Cyanide poisoning” and “How to kill someone via a wound”.

When interviewed, Glenn Pollard said he was at work on the day his friend was shot and denied any involvement. He also denied having an affair with Mr Weatherall’s wife.

Heather Pollard went shooting with her father and was familiar with firearms.

“Not sure I can get through all brambles, will try another route, but maybe think of another option xxx...” - Heather Pollard text to her father Glenn

On March 9 this year, Weatherall told her husband Glenn Pollard had given her £500 and some sleeping pills she was to give to her husband and when he was asleep to inject him with an overdose of insulin.

She said Pollard told her on June 12 last year he was either going to shoot her husband or get someone to do it.

Weatherall told her husband she planned to kill herself and gave him five suicide letters. He comforted her and persuaded her to take the information to the police.

Mr Taylor said that on March 11 Weatherall admitted instigating the affair at a funeral in June last year. She said they had sex twice.

She continued that the affair got out of hand and Pollard persuaded he into thinking she would be better off without her husband.

She said Pollard stated his intention to kill her husband and paid her £500 for her silence and assistance. She was too scared to report him or warn her husband.

Weatherall said Pollard told her he would not pay the shooter the full amount because of their failure to kill the victim.

She told of Pollard’s plan to push her husband overboard on a fishing trip, but failed to do so because there were too many people around.

She also described a fire in which a log burner for the pool heater exploded and severely burned Mr Weatherall. He jumped into the pool to put out the flames.

Weatherall finally blamed Pollard for ruining her life.

“The Crown’s case is that the agreement is plain,” said Mr Taylor.

"It is proven by communications between the parties. It is proven by real injuries suffered by Raymond Weatherall, and it is proven by confessions from one of the three conspirators.

“The key features of the evidence are augmented by evidence of the incriminating movements of the individuals, the lies told to cover their tracks and the evidence of motive.”

The trial continues.