A 19-year-old man has been jailed for 17 years after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of a woman whose face he splashed with acid.
Xeneral Webster was embroiled in an argument with another man in Frogmoor, High Wycombe, when he produced a bottle of acid, which was knocked out of his hand. It then splashed onto 47-year-old Joanne Rand, a carer for dementia patients, who was sat on an adjacent bench after having visited her daughter's grave.
Ms Rand died from her subsequent injuries 11 days later, in Britain's first incidence of death caused by an acid attack.
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The incident took place on 3 June 2017, with Webster pleading guilty to manslaughter on 18 April this year. He also pleaded guilty to affray and possession of an offensive weapon - specifically, a bottle containing high-strength sulphuric acid.
The court heard how the acid caused Ms Rand to scream in pain before running to a nearby KFC restaurant to douse herself with water. Although she received treatment in hospital, she was discharged before later being readmitted.
On 14 June she died after experiencing multi-organ failure, with the acid burns having caused her to contract septicaemia.
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Prosecutor Alison Hunter QC told the court it 'made no difference' whether the care home nurse was the intended victim, arguing that the defendant had fallen victim to an acid attack himself several months prior, and therefore was aware of the consequences.
Judge Angela Morris told Webster: "You and your actions bear the responsibility for her tragic demise.
"The cost of your actions were incalculable and irreparable for her family and friends and there is no sentence which this court can pass which can replace the value of her life.
"The fact remains, you had this substance with you in a public place and you cannot have failed to realise the significant harm its contents would have caused to others had it been released.
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"Because it is a liquid, it is all the more likely to be indiscriminate in its spread."
Detective Chief Inspector Nick Glister, of Thames Valley Police, explained that Ms Rand was a 'completely innocent party', adding that she had tragically been 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'.
After receiving his 17-year sentence, as well as an extended licence period of three years, Webster is reported by the Metro to have responded: "All of you will probably dead by the time I am out of here. Fuck you, bro."
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Eighteen-year-old Katie Pitwell, Ms Rand's daughter, later said that acid attackers should receive tougher sentences, adding: "He knew how much it could hurt someone and yet he used the stronger acid anyway to hurt someone else.
"He went out with the intention of hurting someone and it's an innocent person that got hurt in this situation. People need to know that, if they're carrying that type of stuff, it's going to hurt someone or kill someone."
Webster was also sentenced for two counts of carrying an offensive weapon - including a samurai sword - as well as criminal damage and making threats to kill, relating to a separate incident to which an earlier hearing had also seen him plead guilty.
Featured Image Credit: Thames Valley Police