A FORMER TV producer who allegedly tried to hire hitmen to kill his scriptwriter partner admitted making up elaborate lies about being a cricket team umpire to carry on his affair with a younger lover, a court heard.

David Harris, 68, fed Hazel Allinson a string of tales about his involvement with Arundel Castle Cricket Club so he could travel to London for “away days” with Ugne Cekaviciute, the Old Bailey heard.

Harris met carer Ms Cekaviciute in a brothel and blew tens of thousands of pounds of his partner’s savings, showering her with gifts, the jury was told.

He is accused of trying to “get rid” of Ms Allinson, his partner of 27 years, to get his hands on her house and spend the rest of his days with Ms Cekaviciute, who is 40 years his junior.

The court heard how Harris was a “house husband” at the £800,000 home in East Street, Amberley, after retiring from television drama The Bill. Meanwhile, Ms Allinson, who also worked on the show, had an active social life in the village as a parish councillor and a member of the church choir and a book club.

Cross-examining, William Boyce QC asked Harris if he had ever been in a village cricket team and the defendant said he had not.

The prosecutor said: “Is it right that you told Hazel you were an umpire? You would say Jonathan from the village cricket team and you were going off to far, far villages to umpire?”

Harris said: “That’s correct.”

He admitted he was in fact with his lover.

Mr Boyce asked: “So what you had constructed for Hazel’s consumption was an elaborate story.

“You say you had been persuaded by Jonathan that you had a role to play in cricket umpiring and because you were the person who could drive, you were the person who had to do the matches furthest away from where you lived.

“That’s why you had to be away for so long, you never got the local matches.

“The whole thing was an elaborate lie dreamed up by you to deceive Hazel to get regular away days with Ugne. You would tell Hazel you were an umpire on Arundel Castle Cricket Club. It was all a complete fabrication.”

Harris replied: “It was.”

Jurors were told how Harris also lied to Ms Allinson about supporting his brother in hospital while he was on “suicide watch”. Harris replied: “That’s correct. This whole thing completely blew out of proportion.”

He denies soliciting murder, saying it was all research for a thriller he was planning to write. The trial continues.