Tuesday, December 03, 2024 - A man has been jailed for life for attacking his partner who died with severe burns two years after he poured petrol on her and set her on fire.
Leigh Pateman, 45, was previously sentenced to 17 years and
10 months in prison for grievous bodily harm with intent but admitted the murder
of Ellen Marshall in November after she died from her injuries on
March 11, 2023.
Emergency services were called to their property in Firbeck
Avenue, Skegness, on the evening of April 22 2021 where Pateman had poured
petrol into Ms Marshall’s lap and set fire to her during an argument.
The defendant, who appeared by video link from HMP Garth
wearing a grey T-shirt, was handed a minimum term of 23 years and 145 days by
Judge Simon Hirst at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday.
The court heard that Pateman told police that he was
“messing about” by flicking his lighter to “scare her” before she caught on
fire and he fled the scene on his bike.
A fire crew entered the property and were met with “black
smoke” before they heard Ms Marshall making a “gurgling” sound on the floor,
the court was told.
Prosecutor Sarah Knight said the mother-of-four was left
with “little hair on her head” and her face was so badly burned her appearance
had been “radically altered”.
She told the court that Ms Marshall, who was aged 43 when
she d!ed, sustained “profoundly serious, life-altering injuries”, including 80%
full-thickness burns to her torso, face, and limbs, which required skin grafts.
Ms Marshall, whose chance of survival was given at less than
50%, also lost fingers and had limited movement in the years following the
attack.
Her cause of death was recorded as pneumonia and the long-term consequence of
burns.
Ms Knight told the court: “The cause of death is a direct
consequence of the burns she sustained.”
The court heard that Pateman had traits of a mixed
personality disorder, suffered alcohol dependence for more than 30 years
starting when he was aged nine or 10, and regularly used drugs.
A witness who shared the multiple occupancy property with
the couple heard Pateman say he was “going to set Ellen alight and pour petrol
all over her” a few days before the attack, but she thought it was a
“joke”, the court heard.
Ms Marshall’s daughter, Paige Clarke, wrote a victim impact
statement that was read to the court which said her mother had never got to
meet her first grandchild.
Ms Clarke wrote: “My mum deserved better. She became weaker
and weaker as the days went by and even then she was so strong.
“She would always take the time to focus on how other people
were, showing love and appreciation, and she never let anything or anyone drag
her down.
“She lost all her independence. Her physical appearance
changed so much she was unrecognisable. Eventually, her body just could not
take it anymore.”
Katherine Goddard KC, defending Pateman, said: “I have been
instructed on the remorse Mr Pateman feels for his actions and the consequences
to Ms Marshall and her family.
“They were far beyond what he intended and he has had many
years to accept the enormity of his actions and the consequences.”
Judge Hirst said to the defendant: “You threatened to set
her alight and pour petrol over her. On other occasions you threatened to kill
Ms Marshall.
“This is not a sudden outburst of temper in an otherwise
healthy relationship.
“Whenever a person over the age of 21 is convicted of
mu&der, the court is required to sentence the defendant to imprisonment for
life. That is the position for you.”
Detective Inspector Andy McWatt of Lincolnshire
Police said: “This was a truly shocking and barbaric attack. I cannot
begin to imagine how much fear she must have felt, and how painful the rest of
Ellen’s life was.
“Her family had to watch someone they love suffer from
terrible injuries for almost two years. I hope that they can feel some measure
of closure that her killer has been sentenced for that crime.”
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