A former Army sergeant has denied attempting to murder his wife by tampering with her parachute, which failed to open during a solo jump from 4,000ft.
Victoria Cilliers suffered catastrophic injuries when her main and reserve canopies malfunctioned during a jump above the Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, last year.
Victoria Cilliers, 40, a qualified parachute instructor herself, jumped alone at 4,000ft and, after both chutes failed, her reserve chute deployed partially, saving her life by slowing her fall. The severity of her injuries meant she needed to wear a back brace and use crutches for months after the incident.
Emile Cilliers was an instructor with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps attached to the Royal Engineers at the time of the incident.
Her husband Emile Cilliers denied two counts of attempted murder and one count of criminal damage in a way reckless as to whether life was endangered when he appeared at Salisbury Crown Court today.
The South African national was accused of allegedly tampering with his wife’s parachute before a jump near Netheravon Airfield over Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. A second attempted murder charge related to an alleged incident in Amesbury the week before.
Judge Keith Cutler granted Cilliers conditional bail. He is not to contact anyone involved in the case or travel to Amesbury, Wiltshire. His passport will also need to be in the possession of the Army or police at all times but he will be permitted to travel with the Army for a ski instructor course in Bavaria, Germany, and Austria.
Christopher Hill, defending, said Cilliers would not be a flight risk if he was supervised by the Army and his passport was in the possession of officers.
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