LOYAL relatives of a Sheffield man jailed for killing his wife's lover are continuing to protest his innocence - claiming the wrong man is behind bars.
In their first interview since Andrew Hill, aged 49, was found guilty of murder and given a life sentence, his devastated parents and brother said life is "hell".
They spoke out after their first meeting with the convicted killer since he was ordered to serve a minimum of 17 years behind bars for the murder of 58-year-old Sheffield GP Dr Colin Shawcross, who had been having an affair with his wife.
The doctor was bludgeoned to death at his home on Ashley Grove, Aston, last January, and his body was buried in woods, where it remained for five months until police found the remains.
Hill's relatives spent two hours with him in Doncaster Prison on Saturday and said he was "emotional and upset".
He refused to see them for the first week of his sentence, saying he needed time to come to terms with a future behind bars.
But Hill, formerly of Walseker Lane, Harthill, agreed to a visit at the weekend and is now waiting to find out which prison he is to be posted to for the next few years of his sentence.
His mother, 77, and father, 79, from south east Sheffield, who do not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, said they believed their son's defence in court.
He told Sheffield Crown Court he had paid two men to warn Dr Shawcross away from his wife Julie but they "went too far".
"Those men are still out there somewhere, they are the ones who should be in prison," said Mrs Hill.
"He admits he was stupid getting them to go to the doctor's house but all the way through this he has said he didn't kill the doctor. He is adamant about that and we believe him - 100 per cent.
"He has said he didn't kill the doctor over and over. He said he never wanted him killed, he just wanted him frightened."
Hill's 46-year-old brother said: "All of us, including Andrew, were expecting him to get a sentence for having some involvement - in that he sent people round to the doctor's house.
"We all know that was totally wrong but things got out of control for him and he has said he will never come to terms with the fact that someone has died as a result of something he started.
"He wouldn't mind if he was in prison just for his part in this, but it is the fact that people think he is a killer that he is finding hard.
"He told his solicitors about the men he hired last March and he stood up in court crying saying 'I've never killed anyone in my life' but he knows he set the wheels in motion and will have to struggle to live with that for the rest of his life."
Hill's mum said she does not want her son remembered as a "cold blooded murder".
"He's very well liked, very popular, someone with lots of friends who have been visiting him all the way through this while he waited for the trial to start," she said.
"Every single one of them believes him and like us none of them knew what he was living with at home with Julie having the affair.
"He kept it all to himself because he thought if they were to make a go of it again he did not want anyone thinking badly of Julie - that's the kind of person he was. He did everything for her - on the weekend that this happened he was going out to buy her a sports car she wanted. He used to have their son every weekend so she could work. He was always trying his best to please her.
"He was just an ordinary man who was very well thought of and those who matter know what he is like and that he is not capable of this."
She said the former assistant Venture Scout leader was a keen canoeist and motorcyclist who travelled around the world with his wife before they married.
"I worry about how he is coping in prison and think of him all the time - when I wake up, when I go to sleep. It's always there," she said.
The pensioner said she feels bitterness towards Hill's wife for having the affair. "We loved Julie, thought a lot of her, but now just feel deceived by her and angry at her," she added.
The family has criticised what they claimed was a lack of direct evidence linking Hill to the murder.
His brother claimed the case was full of "big gaps".
"There's no evidence of my brother ever being near the body or at his house - there's no DNA or witnesses," he said.
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