A man who threw acid in the face of a woman, poured boiling water down her back and barricaded her into her home, which he then set on fire, has been jailed for 11-and-a-half years.
Simone Lee, 43, told the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Cork, that the "serious and sustained assault" inflicted by 39-year-old Christopher Stokes has left her with lifelong scars, "both mental and physical".
Sentencing him, Mr Justice Michael McGrath said it was a vicious, prolonged assault in which the threats to kill were sinister and taken seriously.
Stokes, from Sarsfield Avenue, Garryowen in Limerick, had denied attempting to murder Ms Lee on 11 May 2021, when he was first arraigned before a jury at the Central Criminal Court on Monday.
But he later pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Ms Lee, to arson at her home and to threatening to kill or cause serious injury to her friend, 73-year-old Tim Fehin from Charleville.
Detective Garda Aled Harkin told the court that Stokes was interviewed five times, denying each time that he did anything wrong.
He even implied to gardaí that she had burnt her own house down, and that he had gone to her rescue, while also saying he knew nothing about her injuries.
Sentencing him, the judge said there were two victims in this case, and he was satisfied that the assault was at the higher end of the scale.
The appropriate sentence would be 15 years, he said, but he took into account mitigating factors, such as his plea, the minor nature of previous convictions, the support of his former partner, who was in court each day, and his remorse.
He sentenced Stokes to 12 years in prison, with the final six months suspended, subject to him signing a bond to keep the peace for six months on his release.
Stokes was also sentenced to six years in prison on the charge of threatening to kill Mr Fehin, and to seven-and-a-half years for arson, all to run concurrently.
'Brave and courageous' woman
Mr Justice McCarthy said it was clear to the court that Ms Lee was a brave and courageous woman who suffered a sustained, vicious, unprovoked assault, which has left her with ongoing medical and psychological conditions.
Referring to her victim impact statement, in which she said she is a survivor, not a victim, he said this bears testimony to her great courage and fortitude.
Det Gda Harkin told Mr Justice McGrath that Ms Lee's ordeal began when Stokes visited her home, staying overnight.
The following day he became agitated and concerned about not having money to pay maintenance to his former partner.
He told her to contact a mutual friend - Mr Fehin - to get him to drive him from Limerick to Charleville.
During the trip, Stokes began to become aggressive towards Ms Lee striking her repeatedly as Mr Fehin drove.
The court was told that he "struck her on the head on a number of occasions". During the return journey, he continued to hit her, this time with a glass bottle.
She was bleeding and crying and when she got out of the car he hit and kicked her.
In a statement, Mr Fehin said he wanted to help Ms Lee and pleaded with Stokes to stop, but he told the pensioner that if he did not shut up "he would get it too".
Sean Gillane, SC, for the State said the traumatic incident continued to escalate.
Stokes put a plastic bin liner over her head and tightened it until she lost consciousness. He threw ammonia acid on her face on three occasions, and poured a kettle of water down her back.
When Ms Lee finally escaped the house "her head looked like a football, she was incoherent with shock, she was vibrating and shaking", he said.
The court was told that Ms Lee had suffered horrendous injuries, including scalding to the back of her head, face and back as well as damage to her right eye.
She had also suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Lee said she was blind for three days after the attack and was frightened she would lose her sight forever.
She said as a result of the arson, she had lost her home, and all of her possessions.
Ms Lee told the court that she was the victim of a "serious and sustained assault" in her home, which has left her with "scars on my body which I still feel pain in", and still require treatment almost two years on.
She said she felt "vulnerable" and "petrified" and was "unrecognisable" afterwards.
Ms Lee told the court that she was the victim of another horrific assault by a man in 2016 and said she is still haunted by the threats, taunts and actions of Stokes during his assault on her in which he said "he would finish the job of the first assault".
He told me that I was worthless, she said, and that no one would miss me.
Looking to the future, Ms Lee said she hoped to make a positive impact on others and to help others who had been victims.
'Survivor not a victim'
"For all the fear that this man caused me. I am proud I am here today telling my story - I am a survivor and not a victim", she said.
In relation to the sentence handed down, Ms Lee said she thought it was "a strong, big sentence … totally appropriate".
She told reporters that she was happy "because at least the next person that tries this, they will think about it and stop.
"He had a choice to stop and he didn't and he stayed until he thought I was dead", she said.
Ms Lee said she had felt the trial was like a chain around her neck but now it has been cut.
"I'm free, I can live my life - that's all I wanted to do."
