Emile Cilliers on '˜murder bid' after wife's parachute fails

An Army sergeant has been charged with attempted murder after his wife's main parachute failed to open in a 4,000ft jump, police said.

Victoria Cilliers and her husband Emile.

Emile Cilliers, 36, is accused of two counts of attempted murder and a further charge of criminal damage reckless to the endangerment of life.

Victoria Cilliers, 40, suffered “multiple serious injuries” after plummeting to the ground during a jump at Netheravon Airfield on Salisbury Plain on April 5 2015.

At the time Wiltshire Police said her reserve also failed and deployed only partially. She sustained multiple serious injuries and was taken to Southampton Hospital and later discharged.

Cilliers is charged with attempting to murder his wife between March 28 and March 31 2015 in Amesbury, Wiltshire, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

He has also been charged with a second count of attempting to murder Mrs Cilliers between April 3 and April 6 last year in Netheravon.

A third charge relates to an allegation that he damaged a domestic gas fitting belonging to Mrs Cilliers, between March 28 and March 31 last year in Amesbury, endangering the lives of his two children.

Ian Harris, from CPS Wessex, said: “The CPS has today authorised the police to charge Emile Cilliers with two charges of attempting to murder his wife, Victoria Cilliers, and with a further charge of criminal damage reckless to the endangerment of the lives of their two children.”

Cilliers, of Amesbury, Wiltshire, has been released on bail and is due to appear at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on October 14.