A 39-year-old man has been jailed for 11 and half years for an attack on a vulnerable woman who he beat around the head, splashed in the face with acid and scalded with boiling water before trying to burn down the house she was in.
Sentencing Christopher Stokes at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, Mr Justice Michael McGrath said he had subjected Simone Lee (43) to “a sustained, vicious and cruel attack” when he assaulted her at her home in Limerick on May 11th, 2021.
Stokes, of Sarsfield Avenue, Garryowen pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Ms Lee, to arson at her home in Fairview Crescent in Garryowen and to threatening to kill or cause serious injury to her friend, Tim Fehin (73).
Mr Justice McGrath said that both Ms Lee and Mr Fehin had been subjected to a terrifying ordeal at the hands of Stokes when he barricaded them into her house.
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He subjected Ms Lee to a sustained beating before putting a bin bag over her head and tightening it around her neck until she felt that she was going to lose consciousness.
He also threw acid in her face before boiling a kettle of water and pouring it on her back. She suffered severe injuries that required skin grafts and a two month stay in a burn unit in Cork University Hospital.
Mr Justice McGrath said Stokes knew Ms Lee had been the victim of another violent assault some years earlier and had threatened to “finish her off” this time, telling her that she was worthless and no one would miss her. He said Stokes also threatened to kill Mr Fehin when he tried to stop the attack, telling them he would kill them both, cut them up and bury them on Mr Fehin’s farm in Charleville.
Ms Lee woke up after the attack to discover herself covered in cardboard with the house on fire. She escaped from the house and was assisted by a neighbour, Jonathan Benn, who said her head was so swollen it was “like a football”.
Stokes was later rescued from the house by firefighters.
During Garda interviews, he denied assaulting Ms Lee or threatening to kill Mr Fehin and claimed he was trying to save Ms Lee from the fire.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Lee said she no longer trusted people and was afraid to be alone. She had also lost her flat as a result of the arson attack.
“I feel so lucky to have survived. I am a strong woman. I never gave up my fight to survive. I hope to make a positive impact on others, to help others who have been victims. 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.”
Mr Justice McGrath commended Ms Lee, saying that her statement was a testimony to her courage.
He said the offences were at the upper end of the scale for such crimes and he believed the headline sentence was one of 15 years. He said that when he took into account Stokes’s guilty plea and lack of previous convictions for similar offences, the appropriate sentence was 12 years.
Mr Justice McGrath suspended the final six months and backdated the sentence until May 2021 when Stokes first went into custody. The judge also made six year and seven year sentences on the threatening to kill and arson charges concurrent.
Speaking outside court, Ms Lee said she felt it was “a very strong sentence” that sent out a deterrent message to anyone contemplating any similar offence. She urged anyone in a similar abusive or coercive control situation to tell a friend or family and to contact the Garda.
“I felt through this whole trial, that it was a like a chain around my neck and now it’s just cut, I’m free, I can live my life – that’s all I wanted to do,” she said. “I have got my voice back – for long enough I just felt I was a victim, and I am not a victim, I am a survivor.”
