Steven Paul Craig, 57, was serving 15 years in prison for assaulting Jacqueline Kirk, who was seriously injured but survived the attack in Somerset in 1998.
He has now been remanded in custody after Friday’s trial and will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on November 9.
Ms. Kirk died in August 2019 at the age of 62 after suffering from a diaphragmatic hernia.
Craig was charged with her murder when prosecutors argued that she died “as a result” of injuries at Craig’s hands.
The jury had to decide whether the burns suffered by Mrs Kirk played a “significant role in the cause of death”.
Mrs. Kirk suffered severe burns in the attack at Dolphin Square in Weston Super-Mare 24 years ago. Craig tied her to a chair and set it on fire while she acted out a Reservoir Dogs fantasy.
Her injuries covered 35% of her body, including her face, neck, chest, torso, thighs, and buttocks.
Mark Almond, Chief Detective Inspector of the Avon and Somerset Police Major Crimes Investigation Team, described the case as “unusual” given the time between Ms Kirk’s injuries and her death.
But he added: “What he did to her was appalling and had a profound impact on her and her family.
“Although she managed to see many significant milestones, her life was still cut short by the injuries inflicted by Craig and it was only right that he should be held fully accountable.”
The original sentence did not reflect Craig’s “heinous actions.”
After the verdict, prosecutors Andrew Pritchard said Craig will now be held responsible for the “full consequences” of her actions.
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“When Stephen Craig was jailed in 2000 for willfully causing great bodily harm to Jacqueline Kirk, no one knew that his actions would eventually result in Jacqueline’s death,” Pritchard said.
“As a result, the original prison sentence he served did not reflect the full consequences of his heinous acts.”
After the verdict was announced, Ms. Kirk’s family shouted “Yes” and she began to cry.
During the trial, prosecutor Richard Smith KC told the court that Mrs Kirk’s severe burns played a “significant” role in her death years after her death.
He argued that Mrs. Kirk died because her skin could no longer stretch enough to accommodate the swelling in her intestines.
Prosecutors also claimed that her injuries were the reason doctors decided not to operate to repair her diaphragm and save her life.
Smith added that these were not the only reasons for the complex medical situation in which she died, but “they played a role.”
The defense argued that this could not be proven.
Defense attorney Christopher Tehrani KC argued that Ms Kirk’s abdomen was only partially scarred and “elastic”.
He added that surgeons based her decision not to operate in part on unrelated “comorbidities,” including a heart problem.
Craig, of Brailsford Road, York, denied the murder charge and was found guilty of aggravated assault against Mrs Kirk in 2000, meaning the murder trial was limited to medical evidence.
Source: https://wikisoon.com/
