A man who left his girlfriend fighting for her life with 80% burns when he poured petrol over her and ignited it with his lighter has been given an extended sentence of over 21 years, Lincoln Crown Court heard today.
Leigh Pateman, 43, admitted dousing Ellen Marshall, 42, with the petrol during a row at their multiple occupancy flat in Skegness, Lincolnshire.
Ms Marshall, who was originally from Nottingham, then suffered horrific burns after Pateman lit his lighter as she sat in a lounge chair.
A court heard Ms Marshall suffered 80% burns, required mechanical ventilation and her chances of survival were rated at less than 50%.
Lincoln Crown Court was told Pateman had made a previous threat to set Ms Marshall alight and had kept the petrol at his property after buying it, but Ms Marshall did not believe his threat.
When emergency services arrived at the shared property in Firbeck Avenue on April 22 last year, Pateman had already fled.
Sarah Knight, prosecuting, said firefighters were called to the property by another resident shortly after 10.30pm and found the living room covered in black smoke.
One of the firefighters heard a gurgling noise and discovered the body of a woman on the floor.
The incident happened on Firbeck Avenue in Skegness. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Miss Knight said: “She was very badly injured. There was little hair left on her head. Her face was so badly burnt even then it was difficult to make out her facial features.”
The court heard Ms Marshall was still conscious and managed to give her name.
“She was clearly in extreme pain, writhing around,” Miss Knight added.
The court heard Ms Marshall claimed to have caused the injuries herself after pouring petrol but ambulance staff thought this was unlikely due to her pattern of injuries.
Ms Marshall was taken to Boston Pilgrim Hospital with burns to her face, neck, abdomen, chest and limbs, and quickly transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for specialist treatment.
The court heard Pateman fled the scene on his bike after pouring two bowls of water over Ms Marshall and he was arrested at his mother’s house after going to bed.
He was covered in soot and also needed hospital treatment for burns before he was taken back into police custody for interview.
Pateman told police he had been arguing with Ms Marshall for months and said they were both dependent on alcohol.
He claimed he bought the petrol for his strimmer, and only poured the petrol over Ms Marshall to scare her, but was then messing about with his lighter.
CCTV from the street showed a flash from the property.
Investigators said the blaze was limited to the living room but there were three seats to the fire in that room, and accelerant had been used.
Firbeck Avenue in Skegness. | Photo: The Lincolnite
The court heard Ms Marshall suffered serious injuries to her eyes and lost several fingers, and has recently been transferred to Nottingham City Hospital. She can only walk a few steps with a frame.
Specialists now hope she will survive her injuries, but even when Ms Marshall is discharged she will require 24 hour care.
“She will now and always look facially different”, Miss Knight said. “Her life expectancy has been reduced as a result.”
Kevin Jones, mitigating, said Pateman had a limited record for serious violence and asked for a life sentence not to be imposed.
Pateman, of Firbeck Avenue, Skegness, Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty to causing Ms Marshall grievous bodily harm with intent on April 22, 2021.
Passing sentence Judge Simon Hirst said it was difficult to conceive of more serious harm to someone who is aware of them.
“Her injuries are irreversible and she will never be able to return to her former life,” Judge Hirst said.
Judge Hirst told Pateman he had no hesitation in concluding that he was dangerous and said he would have passed a life sentence if he had more serious previous convictions.
“It is difficult to think of a crueller crime than setting someone alight,” Judge Hirst told Pateman.
“You used a highly dangerous weapon with the use of fire and an accelerant.”
Pateman was sentenced to a custodial term of 17 years and ten months imprisonment and must serve a further four years on licence after his release making a total extended sentence of 21 years and ten months.
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Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022
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