NSW: Man jailed for trying to hire hitman

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NSW: Man jailed for trying to hire hitman

By Graeme Webber

SYDNEY, Aug 13 AAP - A married man who tried to hire a hitman for $5,000 to kill hisex-girlfriend's new lover was today jailed for six years.

Michael Alan Stockdale, 51, was living with his wife and two children in Sydney's northwhile he plotted to find an assassin - who turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Stockdale, a travel agent, pleaded guilty to soliciting to murder and appeared beforeJudge Barrie Kinchington for sentencing in Sydney District Court today.

The judge said Stockdale had had a "fixation" with the woman and the hit was premeditatedover a number of months.

The court has suppressed the identity of the intended victim and his girlfriend, butStockdale himself was targeted in a knife attack in jail and has been held in protectivecustody, Judge Kinchington said.

Stockdale met the woman some time in August 1999 and a relationship developed soon after.

But she cut off contact in May 2000, telling Stockdale she had met someone else.

He kept calling her over the next four or five months, and sent flowers and champagnein an attempt to rekindle the relationship, but she repeatedly told him to leave her alone.

"However, the accused's fixation about wanting to re-establish a relationship withthe woman did not go away and during the early months of 2001 he had a number of discussionswith a friend he knew about disposing of her new boyfriend, apparently in the hope thatif the boyfriend disappeared from the scene the accused would be able to successfullyre-establish the relationship with her," Judge Kinchington said.

Stockdale asked a friend if he would kill the woman's boyfriend, or knew someone whowould, and indicated on numerous occasions that he wanted him dead, the judge said.

The friend reported the matter to police and an undercover police officer made contactwith Stockdale in Sydney's Hyde Park on June 26 last year, posing as a hitman.

"The accused agreed to pay him $5,000 plus expenses for the murder of the intendedvictim," Judge Kinchington said.

Stockdale gave the undercover officer the intended victim's name, home address, telephonenumber, work address and vehicle identification.

Judge Kinchington said Stockdale showed the officer where the woman lived and on theway "they discussed both appropriate ways and times to commit the murder".

They drove to the boyfriend's workplace and Stockdale stopped at an ATM and withdrew$500 and gave it to the would-be hitman for expenses and then checked the location ofthe intended victim's home.

On July 3, the undercover officer again met the offender in Hyde Park, where he was arrested.

Stockdale will be eligible for parole after three years and nine months, backdatedto his arrest on July 3 last year and the court was told he hoped to resume his familyand business life after his release.

AAP gmw/arb/hu/sb

KEYWORD: HITMAN