A husband has been jailed after pouring boiling water over his wife while she was in the bath. IT manager Christopher Stanway and his wife had only been married for six months at the time of the incident.
And StokeonTrentLive reports he repeatedly attempted to get her to drop the issue with the police. The case was taken to Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, and the 52-year-old is now starting a 14-month prison sentence after admitting assault and perverting the course of justice.
The court heard the incident happened in April last year at their Staffordshire flat. Prosecutor David Bennett said: “The marriage began to deteriorate. He became jealous and abusive. He began drinking. In February 2022 he began to get physically abusive. Nothing was reported to the police.
“At 6pm on April 21 she was having a bath. The water was not very hot. He entered the bathroom, and she asked him to fill the kettle with boiling water to heat the bathwater. He poured the kettle of boiling water in as she was still in the bath. He filled it a second time. She was not aware of his presence. She felt sudden severe pain to her back. She leaped out and went to the second bathroom and stood under a cold shower for 10 minutes.”
The victim, who was left “scared of the man she loved”, was in hospital overnight. The court heard he accused her of having an affair with one of their neighbours.
The court heard Stanway, from Clayton Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, moved to a Premier Inn and was bailed not to contact his wife. But her mother passed away and they went to Lincolnshire together.
Mr Bennett added: “She became scared about his behaviour and contacted police. Local officers from Lincolnshire attended and arrested him.
“He continued to make abusive calls and send messages, using another phone. He sent her messages saying he loved her and accusing her of sleeping with other men. He also sent her romantic gifts and asked her to withdraw her complaint.
“He asked her to write a letter to the judge asking them to deal with him leniently. He told officers he still had strong feelings for her. He said she had also been contacting him.”
Subscribe here for the latest news where you live
Stanway – who has no previous convictions – claims the boiling water incident was an accident. The couple are still married and he is still paying the rent on the Cheddleton property.
Julian Farley, mitigating, added: “It happened when he was drunk. He was drunk very often during the relationship. He was an appalling husband for her to have to live with.”
Judge Sally Hancox jailed Stanway. She told him: “It’s clear that you are intelligent. You accept that the relationship is over. It will be difficult for you to deal with any custodial sentence.”
