ANTHEA Jane Jones was flanked by her new partner, her father and solicitor as the moment she had waited for arrived yesterday - she walked free from Cardiff crown court, cleared of plotting to kill her husband.

In a statement read outside the court by her solicitor, Sarah Williams, yesterday, Mrs Jones, 37, of Hafod Cottage, Black Rock, Clydach, said she was delighted her innocence of the charge was proven, but apologised for hurting her now estranged husband.

"I am delighted with the result," said the statement. "It is a vindication of the jury system. I would like to thank my family and friends, who have stood by me throughout, especially my dad and my partner, Keith.

"This has been a wholly humiliating experience for me where my personal life has been aired in public for everyone to pass judgement.

"I have, however, learnt a valuable lesson from this incident, and that is that you should be careful what you say, however innocent, as it can be taken and exaggerated out of all proportion. I would like to say this is no reflection on Francis Jones, and I am sorry for any pain caused to Mr Jones.

"I am now anxious to put these matters behind me and move on with my life with my partner and son."

It was the eighth day of a sensational trial which had caused a media frenzy.

The court heard revelations of a string of nine affairs or sexual encounters with other men, an interest in witchcraft and how husband Francis Jones, 60, was worth £2 million.

The couple had met while the future Mrs Jones worked in a pub. He was a wealthy pharmacist, a workaholic with a shop in the village of Llanhilleth, who hoped she would grow to love him.

She was a mum with a disabled son, Alex, who hoped he could provide her with financial security and stability.

But her first sexual encounter with another man was on her wedding day, Valentine's Day 1998, and with her new husband's own son, Magnus, who later died in a car crash.

A string of affairs followed - Mrs Jones writing her number on a packet of mints and tossing them into the van of a builder whom she later bedded and from whom she caught chlamydia; a relationship with ex-SAS man Bob Routledge, which broke Mrs Jones' heart, and sex sessions with Abergavenny fishmonger Richard Gafney, who became a defence witness.

The key prosecution witness in the case was Debra Benjamin, Mrs Jones' one-time friend and confidante, who introduced her to another lover, Lenny Loveridge.

This was the Hereford man who the prosecution alleged Mrs Jones solicited to murder her wealthy husband for £20,000.