A former soldier accused of shooting dead the husband of his secret lover has told a jury of his fear that he was about to die.

Married Jeffery Mills said after the affair with flame-haired Louise Jenkins was revealed he began barricading himself into his home on the Shepway estate, Maidstone.

He told a murder jury how he feared the friend he had cuckolded, Andrew Jenkins wanted revenge.

He said Andrew was "a bully, intimidating, a large man at least four inches taller than me".

Mills, who denies murder, told Maidstone Crown Court how Mr Jenkins telephoned him and began screaming down the phone.

"I had never heard him talk like that. He was possessed... he was overly angry. He told me: 'I'm coming for you'... The fear of God was put into me. I tried to apologise but he talked over me.

" I then hung up and called my wife to tell her he was now coming to kill me," he said.

He then fled his home because he feared Mr Jenkins was about to arrive to cause him "serious harm or death."

He added: "I was in blind panic. I didn't know what to think."

Mills claimed he then asked a friend to get him an illegal gun, a Gloch 23 pistol which he put in his bedroom at his home in Cambridge Crescent.

On Sunday, March 17, Mr Jenkins arrived at the flat and began talking with Mrs Mills at the front door.

Mills told the jury: "I heard his Brummie voice asking where I was. My wife told him I wasn't there.

"He repeated: 'Where is he? I'm going to ****** kill him' My body was shaking. I didn't know what to do. I was thinking 'This is it... this is it' I reached for the gun in the sock drawer. I held it in my hand.

"In my head I am thinking: 'Just go... just go.' I stood behind the door. I heard the front door open and my wife screamed."

Mills broke down in the witness box as he recalled: "At that point all I could think was 'he's attacking my wife... what do I do?'

"I went into auto-pilot, cocked the gun, walked out into the doorway. He was right in front of me, I raised the gun and pulled the trigger. I didn't want to kill him. I didn't want to hurt him. I just wanted him to go."

The jury heard how the bullet hit Mr Jenkins in the chest who managed to run out of the flat before collapsing on the ground. A kitchen knife was found nearby.

Earlier the ex-squaddie told the court how his friend often boasted about shooting a love cheat in Birmingham years ago.

He claimed: "Andrew liked to talked about his past which he claimed was largely spent in prison, including 10 years for attempted murder with a firearm.

"He explained to me that he found out his wife was having an affair and he had gone round to the guy's house with a pump action shotgun and shot through a door."

He described his initial reaction to meeting Andrew's wife, Louise - with whom he had an affair. "I thought she was obnoxious, outspoken and opinionated."

Ramsgate-born Mills, 54, joined the army after leaving school and claimed he was selected to join the Special Armed Forces but had to quit because a knee injury.

He served in the Falklands, Canada and Germany and left as acting sergeant after 13 years to run a number of pubs and hotels

He married Jayne, who he met on a blind date, in February 1985 and the couple later met Andrew and Louise through a mutual interest in motor cycles.

He said the affair began after going on a birthday bash with Louise and other family members.

"Louise and I sat together and it got a bit flirty as we were drinking... then I went to Nottingham for work and we would flirt on the phone... then out of the blue were were in an hotel room.

"In the last year we would meet up twice a week. It was purely sexual," he explained.

He claimed he wanted to end the relationship but Mrs Jenkins threatened to tell Jayne or her husband.

The affair continued until March this year when they checked in to the Royal Victoria and Bull Inn in Rochester when he was recognised by a new receptionist who knew Mrs Jenkins.

After their liaison was revealed he pleaded with Louise not to tell her husband.

He said: "I was hoping he wouldn't know and she can get on with her marriage and I will get on with mine.

"When the **** hit the fan I thought this guy has form for shooting someone who has done to his wife what I have done."

The trial continues.

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