Scarborough trawler who threw corrosive substance in ex-girlfriend's face is jailed

A Scarborough man who threw a corrosive substance into the face of his ex-partner, causing burns, has been jailed for over two years.

Ashley Palliser, 34, threw a mixture of potassium hydroxide and potassium carbonate into the face of the named victim during an argument outside his flat, York Crown Court heard.

The victim received treatment at a specialist burns unit at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield where she was treated for facial burns to her temple, earlobe, inside the ear canal and her chest.

Prosecutor Rachael Landin said the victim was attacked after driving to Palliser’s flat in Eastfield on family matters on October 12 last year.

CCTV footage of the attack at about 6pm showed Palliser leaving his flat and “appearing to look for the victim”.

He was carrying a bottle containing some kind of “chemical substance” which he initially threw at her car, and then at the victim’s face.

Her wounds were said to be “weeping all night”.

Medical professionals at Pinderfields Hospital cleaned the facial and ear wounds with special wash solution.

Police forensic officers examined the chemical compound which had been used as a “weapon” by Palliser and found that it was a mixture of potassium hydroxide and potassium carbonate which were blended to form a noxious substance.

Palliser was quizzed by officers the day after the incident and initially claimed that the attack was an accident.

He claimed that he had been cleaning his dentures with lemon juice and water which accidentally splashed onto the victim’s face. This claim was duly proven to be eminently false.

In a second interview in June this year, he refused to answer police questions but disputed the incontrovertible CCTV evidence.

Ms Landin said the victim didn’t want to press charges, but police charged Palliser with wounding on the back of CCTV and forensic evidence.

He ultimately admitted wounding the victim and appeared for sentence today (October 6).

Ms Landin said that Palliser, of Westway, Eastfield, had 64 previous offences on his record including violence, carrying a knife, drug matters, criminal damage and a “significant number” of breaches of court orders.

Defence barrister Rhiannon Clement said the corrosive-substance attack was “clearly a moment of madness”.

She said that Palliser, a father-of-four who had been working as a trawler, was “deeply remorseful”.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Palliser: “You armed yourself with a corrosive substance and threw it on your victim. You are extremely lucky that it was not in her eye.”

Jailing Palliser for two years and one month, Mr Morris said the “sheer seriousness” of the offence meant that he “richly deserved” to go to prison for even longer, but the sentence had to be tempered by legislative guidelines.