Emile Cilliers was desperate to get rid of his wife.

The “cold and calculating” Army sergeant was in the throws of a passionate affair with a woman he met on Tinder, sleeping with his ex-wife and had various prostitutes on speed dial.

His debts had spiralled out of control and he was of the mistaken belief that if Victoria Cilliers died, he would receive £120,000 in life insurance.

When he had tried to tell her he wanted to end the marriage she threatened suicide so he decided on a more sinister option, first trying to cause a gas explosion at the family home in Amesbury, Wilts, and then, when that failed, sabotaging her parachute after organising a skydive as a “treat”.

The "very dangerous, coercive and manipulative" physical training instructor showed no emotion as he was convicted on Thursday of two counts of attempted murder and a third count of damaging the gas fitting recklessly endangering life following a retrial at Winchester Crown Court.

But despite the overwhelming evidence, South African-born Cilliers, 38, almost got away with it, thanks largely to his wife.