AN unsuspecting victim was extremely fortunate not to have suffered more serious injury after his face was hit with industrial strength paint stripper.
The corrosive liquid was sloshed over him by Steven Dennett, who ‘lost his temper’ in what was described as a ‘mean, despicable and cowardly attack’.
The 40-year-old dad dispensed the fluid from arms’ length, inflicting immediate discomfort on the man who suffered from a burning sensation.
Dennett was told that only an immediate prison sentence was appropriate after appearing for sentence at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Thursday, over charges of criminal damage and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Damian Nolan, prosecuting, explained how the offenses occurred at around 5pm on July 21 last year, when the defendant was driving a work colleague home along Tilston Avenue in Westy, Warrington.
As he looked down the road, he saw the house of the parents of the complainant, towards whom he has a history of ill-feeling towards, with the victim’s convertible BMW parked outside.
Dennett formed a plan to drop off his colleague at his house and go back to his own home, where he got out of his Citroen Berlingo van, entered the rear where industrial strength paint stripper was kept and emptied it into a ‘vessel’, which he described as a McDonald’s coffee cup sized container.
On his return to Tilston Avenue, he saw the victim was now sat in his car with the roof down.
The defendant slowed down his vehicle and was within arm’s length away, driver-to-driver and in his eye line, when he dispensed the fluid.
The incident occurred on Tilston Avenue in Westy (Image: Google Maps)
It hit the complainant in the face, causing him to scream as he felt burning to his face and eyes, which left scarring.
Hospital treatment was required and an ambulance was called, with the victim suffering an additional two weeks of discomfort.
Evidence from doctors made it clear that ‘significant damage’ could have been caused, and it was only fortunate that this was not the case.
The liquid also damaged the car’s paintwork, interior and seats, which started to bubble almost immediately.
The BMW was written off due to the damage after the victim was told it would not be economical to repair, and he lost his job as a result due to being unable to travel to work.
Mr Nolan remarked that the offense was ‘clearly pre-meditated’ with ‘an element of almost revenge’.
The court heard how the liquid was marked with a skull and crossbones and a label warning what would happen should it come into contact with skin, as well as how the defendant knew the significant corrosive properties of the liquid through dealing with it on a daily basis .
The paint stripper was not permitted for sale to general members of the public, and it was only available to tradesman due to the care that needs to be taken while using it.
It was revealed in court that Dennett has 22 previous convictions for 49 offenses, including criminal damage, theft, robbery, public disorder, drugs, driving matters and breaches of court orders.
Steven Dennett was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court
Lloyd Morgan, defending, conceded that the case crossed the custody threshold, but he looked to argue that the sentence could be suspended.
He spoke of how his client was ‘aiming at the car in general and the back seats rather than the victim’, and that it was ‘bad aim rather than deliberately aiming at the person’.
Mr Morgan described the act as ‘extremely reckless’ and added that a jury had rejected any notion of an ‘ulterior intent’.
But recorder Ian Harris said that the offense was so serious that only an immediate custody sentence is appropriate.
“In my judgment, your actions were mean and planned,” he remarked before passing the sentence, adding that the defendant had not ‘exhibited genuine remorse’ for his actions.
“The victim was vulnerable and unarmed, and this this was a mean, despicable and cowardly attack on him,” he continued.
“You used a weapon, and he was not to know the corrosive fluid would not cause dreadful injury to his eyesight. Fortunately, mercifully, it was transient.”
Dennett, of Adamson Close in Westy, was jailed for 20 months, with recorder Harris adding: “Lawlessness and anarchic behavior has no place in a civilized society.”
He must also abide by a restraining order not to contact the victim or enter two named streets in Warrington for an indefinite period.
