Former air hostess to face retrial over alleged murder plot

A former Gold Coast air hostess who was jailed for six years last year for hiring a hitman to kill her husband has had her conviction set aside, after an appeal.

Theresa Dalton will now face a retrial in the Supreme Court for attempting to procure a person to murder her husband, Malcolm Stewart, in 2010. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

A FORMER Gold Coast air hostess who was jailed for six years last year for hiring a hitman to kill her husband has had her conviction set aside, after an appeal.

Theresa Dalton will now face a retrial in the Supreme Court for attempting to procure a person to murder her husband, Malcolm Stewart, in 2010.

In a brief hearing on Friday afternoon, the Court of Appeal granted Dalton bail, which was not opposed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The appeal court had allowed Dalton to adduce new evidence for her appeal.

Court of Appeal President, Justice Walter Sofronoff, Justice Philip Morrison and Justice Michael Buss are yet to publish their appeal decision reasons.

Dalton had pleaded not guilty to a charge alleging she had her then-boyfriend Anthony Werner hire his school friend Matthew Neels to murder her husband.

Matthew Neels. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

The couple had been going through a divorce battle described in court as “venomous’’.

After a five-day trial in Brisbane Supreme Court, a jury found Dalton guilty of orchestrating the alleged murder plot in August, last year.

She was sentenced to six years jail, and would have been eligible for parole in August, 2021.

It was alleged the would-be hitman was told he could use a rifle to shoot Stewart in his own home, from an adjoining block.

Neels never went through with the plot, telling the court he “wasn’t crazy’’ and never intended to kill anyone, although he kept the $20,000 cash deposit he was given.

During the trial, the court heard Mr Stewart had been traumatised by his former wife’s alleged actions and wore a bulletproof vest for years.

The court heard Dalton had allegedly “bankrolled’’ the murder plot.

She had allegedly worn gloves while counting out $20,000 cash to put into a bag, along with Mr Stewart’s photo and a note with his home and business addresses for Werner to hand to Neels.

The jury was shown Dalton’s bank statements leading up to the planned “hit’’, showing a series of cash withdrawals totalling $45,000, two months before Mr Stewart was to be killed.

“I had nothing to do with this, nothing whatsoever,’’ Dalton told the judge after the verdict in August last year.

“I’m totally innocent, Your Honour.’’

Dalton also said there had been “a catastrophic miscarriage of justice’’.

“I am 67 years of age and I have never broken the law in my life — I find myself here for something that I’m not guilty of, ” Dalton said.