Whisper
#byefelicia
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jealous husband who doused his wife of 22 years in petrol before trying to set her alight has been jailed for a minimum of 10 years.
Mark Laverick,
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showered his wife Beverley in petrol before trying to set her on fire with matches and a lighter.
The 41-year-old targeted his wife of more than two decades as she walked home from dropping their six-year-old daughter at school
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His attempts to set his partner on fire were only thwarted when the wind prevented his matches from lighting, and a passer-by confronted him after hearing his victim's terrified screams.
Laverick was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison, with an extended five-year licence period, after pleading guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent
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on Friday. A charge of attempted murder was dropped.
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John Milford QC branded Laverick 'dangerous' and also imposed a restraining order to keep him away from his estranged wife and their children.
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judge said it was miraculous that the mother of three was not turned into a 'human torch' in the attack.
He said: 'Miraculously the petrol did not ignite.
'Had it ignited she would have become a human fireball and suffered injuries which would have been painful in the extreme and disfiguring, almost certainly, for the rest of her life.
'One can think of few crueller crimes, short of murder, than setting someone alight.
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The court heard that Laverick had been assessed as posing a high risk of causing harm to his wife and any future partner.
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Katherine Dunn told the court the couple, who had been together for 22 years and have three children together, had split prior to the incident on June 30.
Their relationship had broken down in February and she had left him to go and live with her mother.
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weeks before the attack, Laverick made a series of threats towards his estranged wife and two days before the attack posted online: 'It's going to be hell or a cell for me like. I really don't care anymore.'
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targeted his wife as she returned from dropping her daughter at school. He approached her and accused of her of being with someone else, before telling her: 'It ends today.'
Ms Dunn told
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'He was carrying a bottle and he unscrewed the lid and threw the liquid into her face.
'It immediately began to burn her eyes and smelled like turps. She tried to run away from him but couldn't see where she was going and he chased her and continued to throw the liquid over her.'
Ms Dunn told the court
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then began striking matches and throwing them, but they could not light because of the wind.
'As he was throwing matches she was begging him to stop,
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'She ran terrified into a nearby garden and tried to get help but the property was locked. She was screaming "please help me".
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pushed her up against the fence and then used his lighter to try to set her on fire. He was flicking his lighter against her clothes, he tried to do this four or five times.'
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court heard Laverick ran off when a neighbour came out of her house after hearing his victim's terrified screams.
Mrs Laverick was taken to hospital where she was treated for eye irritation.
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In a victim impact statement read to the court, she said she had 'never been so scared'.
He had such blankness in his eyes as he threw the matches towards me,'
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'All I could think of was my children.'
Grandmother Pat Bott, 64, told the court how she managed to distract Laverick after hearing his wife's desperate pleas.
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was passing, with her 18-year-old grandaughter Sam, when she heard Mrs Laverick screaming: 'Help, help he's going to burn me.'
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'He had poured petrol all over her and when we went out he was trying to light his lighter.
'I shouted "What you doing, leave her alone" and she managed to get free from him.
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'She was very upset and in tears. With me shouting, she said it gave her the strength to run.'
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who was nominated for a bravery award by police for her actions, said Laverick was still lurking outside when she looked out after dialling 999.
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'He stopped at the gate and I was thinking "you dare come in my garden".
'I can remember calling him a blooming idiot and then he went away.'
When Laverick was arrested, he told police he had only set out to scare his wife.
Christopher Knox
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said Laverick was depressed at the time, but had now found happiness with a new partner despite being behind bars.
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'He has, in the time he has been in custody, realised what he has done.
'He is regretful and apologetic.
'He regarded the marriage breakdown as terminal to his life.
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The judge said Laverick would spend until at least 2029 behind bars due to his 10-year prison sentence and the extended licence period.
SOURCE
http://www.nationalheadlines.co.uk/...ing-to-set-her-alight-is-jailed-for-10-years/