‘I didn’t think she’d go this far!’ Moment ex-husband of ‘Black Widow’ learns she tried to manipulate THREE other men into murdering him after he won custody of their daughter

• Footage shows moment Rob Parkes learned ex-wife tried to have him murdered  
• Rob, 40, met Victoria Sheen, from Cambridgeshire at uni in 1999 and wed 2004
• Couple separated in 2008 and Rob Parkes was granted custody of a child in 2014
• Victoria is serving nine-and-a-half years for plotting to have Rob murdered 
• Moment will feature in tonight’s episode of C4’s 24 Hours in Police Custody 

Footage has revealed the moment the ex-husband of a mother dubbed the ‘Black Widow’ learned she tried to manipulate three other men into murdering him after he won custody of their daughter.

In tonight’s episode of Channel 4’s 24 Hours in Police Custody, viewers are taken behind the scenes of a gripping police investigation involving Victoria Breeden, 39, from near Littleport, Cambridgeshire, who is now serving nine-and-a-half years for plotting to have Rob Parkes, 40, killed. 

Breeden met Rob at university in 1999 and they married in 2004, but the couple separated in 2008 and Rob was granted custody of a child in 2014 following proceedings in the family courts. 

During one scene, detectives can be seen urgently visiting Rob to check on his safety, before explaining to him: ‘On Tuesday night we had someone attend the police station with a recording basically stating that it was a recording of Victoria and another person conspiring to murder someone. The content of that recording is directed towards yourself.’

Putting his hands into his head, a shocked Rob says: ‘The past history I’ve got with her…I never thought she would’ve gone this far.’  

In tonight’s episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody, viewers are taken behind the scenes of a gripping police investigation into the story of Victoria Breeden (pictured), who plotted to have ex-husband Rob Parkes killed

Speaking of the moment he finds out, Rob Parkes says: ‘The past history I’ve got with her. I never thought she would’ve gone this far’ (pictured)

Victoria and Rob’s marriage broke down between 2006 and 2008 and in 2014 Mr Parkes won custody of the couple’s only child, the jury heard. Pictured, Rob on hearing the news

The case is handed to DS Mike Barnshaw who has to work out whether the recording is evidence that she really wanted him dead or is pillow talk with a man she has picked up on a dating site.

He discovers that although she only recently met both men on a dating site, her obsession with her ex-husband goes back many years.

Officers urgently make sure Rob is safe from the woman who appears to have something against him that is so strong that she wants to see him dead.

Victoria Breeden is arrested and held in custody, while police trace more and more of the men in her life – all of whom have a similar story to tell.

As he tries to get more into the mind of his suspect DS Barnshaw admits, ‘in all my career I’ve never experienced anything like this’. 

Victoria Breeden was jailed for nine years and six months at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday for soliciting the murder of her ex-husband after she lost custody of a child

Cameras follow every twist and turn of a police investigation that involves the race to find the evidence which will unravel Victoria Breeden’s (pictured) plot against her ex-husband before they are forced to release her once again

Cameras follow every twist and turn of a police investigation that involves the race to find the evidence which will unravel Victoria Breeden’s plot against her ex-husband before they are forced to release her once again.

Since the episode was recorded, Victoria has been jailed for nearly 10 years after trying to persuade the three men to murder Rob Parkes between 2014 and 2019.

She was convicted at an earlier trial at Chelmsford Crown Court of three counts of soliciting his murder and was jailed for nine years and six months at the same court. 

Mr Justice Chamberlain, sentencing Breeden, said: ‘The evidence demonstrates that your main motivation in trying to persuade others to kill Rob Parkes was to regain custody of (a child). It must be obvious to you now that that can’t happen.’

The defendant appeared by video-link from Peterborough Prison and bowed her head as the judge sentenced her.

She was convicted at trial of endeavouring to persuade then-neighbour Hamish Lowry-Martin to murder Mr Parkes between January 1 2014 and December 31 2014.

She was also found guilty of endeavouring to persuade former boyfriend Graham Wall to murder Mr Parkes between October 19, 2018 and October 3, 2019.

Breeden was also convicted of trying to persuade friend Earl Gernon to murder Mr Parkes on October 1 2019.

Victoria was found guilty of endeavouring to persuade former boyfriend Graham Wall (pictured) to murder Mr Parkes between October 19, 2018 and October 3, 2019

Graham Wall who was asked to get rid of Rob Parkes leaving Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex

A recording of Breeden’s conversation with Mr Gernon was made on Mr Wall’s mobile phone, as Mr Wall had suspected that Breeden was being unfaithful and left the device hidden on the record setting.

Mr Justice Chamberlain said of the recording of Breeden’s conversation with Mr Gernon: ‘The discussion you (Breeden) had was detailed, it included the way in which the murder could be done and costs of different methods.

‘You handed Earl Gernon Rob’s address and you had a large sum of money you could have used for the killing.’

He told Breeden: ‘You were only thwarted because Gernon did not do what you wanted, or at least had not done so by the time police got involved.’

Daniel Taylor, prosecuting, said: ‘The crown say that this offending was persistent, planned and ultimately motivated by a desire to gain custody (of a child).’

He said that Mr Lowry-Martin and Mr Gernon were offered a ‘financial incentive to carry out those instructions’ and that Breeden had £18,000 in cash.

‘The point the crown say is important here is someone offering… money and she had the means to pay it,’ said Mr Taylor.

Matthew Jewell QC, mitigating, said that two of the men ‘made it pretty clear they were going to have nothing to do with it’.

He said Breeden’s conversation with the third man, Mr Gernon, ‘doesn’t reach a conclusion on the topic one way or the other and there was no evidence of any follow-up’.

Mr Jewell said Breeden has mental health issues but no conclusive diagnosis.

Mr Parkes, reading his victim impact statement to the court, said that the trial was ‘harrowing’ for him as he heard ‘just how my ex-wife wanted to kill me’.

‘I’ve never felt as unsafe as I have in the last year,’ he said.

Mr Parkes thanked Mr Wall for going to the police, which he said ‘prevented (Breeden) from being successful’.

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