Killer jailed for 'calculated execution' of solicitor

The killer of "decent, conscientious, highly-respected" solicitor Jim Ward, founder of MGW Law in Devizes, Wiltshire, was jailed today for a minimum term of 27 years.

Sentencing Michael Chudley to life for murder at Salisbury Crown Court this morning, Mr Justice Bean said Chudley decided to take revenge on Ward, after losing a case in which Ward was acting for the other side.

Bean J said: "You lost the case, and lost a great deal of money in the process. So you decided to take your revenge on Mr Ward. You armed yourself with a sawn off shotgun, drove to the market square in Devizes and walked into the offices of Mr Ward's firm [pictured above].

"You threatened to shoot the receptionist, Daphne Courtney, and forced her to lead you upstairs. I am quite satisfied that you intended to kill Mr Ward.

"You fired a single shot to his head, then walked out as calmly as you had arrived, got into your car and drove off. It was a chilling, calculated execution."

Chudley, who is 63, will not be released before 2040, and only then if the Parole Board considers it is safe.

Ward founded MGW Law with his wife, Nicola Morris, in 1988, under the name Morris, Goddard and Ward. MGW Law merged with Wansbroughs last month.

Bean J said Morris had given her evidence "with admirable dignity and composure, but the effect of this murder on her and her family has been appalling".

He went on: "I have read the very moving victim impact statement written on behalf of the whole family by Mr Ward's daughter Louise Ward Morris.

"She writes that her mother and sister have suffered from depression and panic attacks which sometimes make everyday tasks into mountains. All three children of Mr Ward have lost a loving father. His mother Susan has outlived her son."

Mr Justice Bean, said the firm's receptionist "suffered severe post-traumatic stress with panic attacks and flashbacks which can stop her in her tracks".

He said: "She writes in her victim impact statement that she was frightened beyond description by your attack and by the threat to her life. She feels a sense of guilt although in my view there was nothing she could have done to save Mr Ward."

Addressing Chudley, the judge said: "Because you wallow in self-pity and think only of yourself I doubt whether any of this bothers you at all. Indeed, when you are asked in the witness box whether you felt any remorse for the death of Mr Ward you replied 'I don't know what the word means. I have no feelings about Ward.'

"In this respect at least you were telling the truth. The sentence for murder is, as it must be, imprisonment for life."

Bean J said the effect of Chudley's paranoid personality disorder on his crime was "no more than marginal" and age was the only mitigating factor.

He added: "It may be that you will die in prison. But that is a possibility for which you have only yourself to blame."