A PENSIONER said he offered a potential hitman £150,000 to kill his wealthy partner and was told, “for that kind of money, I will go down there now and shoot her”, a court heard.

David Harris, 68, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of trying to get three hitmen to kill scriptwriter Hazel Allinson, who he met while working on The Bill in 1989. Harris allegedly wanted to arrange a fatal accident so he could inherit Ms Allinson’s £800,000 home in Amberley and begin a new life with his younger girlfriend, who he met in a brothel. The defendant has denied soliciting murder, saying it was all research for a thriller he was planning to write.

Giving evidence for a second day, Harris described how he asked a “man mountain” to kill his wife the first time they met at a cafe in Stratford, east London. He was put in touch with Zed, real name Duke Dean, through a contact he met in a coffee shop. Initially, he had asked for help to find a “heavy” debt collector who was “not afraid to use force if necessary”. Describing their meeting, Harris told jurors: “I said I got him there under false pretences and what I was actually looking for was a hitman.”

The trial continues.