Mum jailed after ex-husband killed in horrific acid attack
On 21 February 2025, two men rushed into the home of Plymouth man Danny Cahalane and attacked him.
The dad-of-two was rushed to hospital but could not be saved and died in hospital on 3 May.
He had been treated for 10 weeks for severe burns caused by the sulphuric acid thrown at him in the early-hours attack.
Paris Wilson, the ex-wife of Cahalane, has now been jailed for nine years for manslaughter and her part in an attempted kidnap in January 2025.
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Before he died, the jury heard how the drug dealer was able to tell police he believed his ‘boss’ had ordered the fatal attack. Cahalane owed roughly £120,000 to a Dubai-based drugs boss he had worked for, managing the Plymouth branch of the operation.
Demands for him to repay the money (some of which were made through Wilson) were followed by threats on his life and others around him when he failed to wipe the debt.
On 19 January 2025, Cahalane arrived in Oreston to drop his daughter to her mum, Wilson but after parking up, he was approached by brother Jean and Arrone Mukana and a third man.
He was able to escape but minutes later had a message from the crime boss referring a ‘close call’, adding that he’d die next time.
It’s said the mum became a key contact for the group as she gave up information such as his whereabouts as an act of revenge and for payment to a crime boss and another organiser, Ramarnee Bakas.
The judge, Ms Justice Norton, said that Wilson had ‘used her child effectively as bait” for the attempted kidnap incident, calling it a ‘particularly unpleasant’ aspect of the case.
Cahalane’s young daughter was asleep at the property when he was attacked in his home.
Norton told Wilson: “Whilst you yourself did not deal drugs, from evidence placed before the jury and messages to your mother, you were clearly happy to associate and provide assistance to those who do.
“That assistance provided details to Frost of Danny Cahalane’s whereabouts thereby allowing the attack to take place.
“You also used contact arrangements with your daughter to set up Danny Cahalane for an attempted kidnap a month earlier.”
She added that there were ‘two sides to her character’ as she praised the defendant’s ‘hard-working’ nature and efforts in bringing up her children.
But describing her involvement in the fatal attack, the judge said: “Whatever your motivation, whether money, security or revenge, in that moment your main concern was yourself.”
Following an 18-week trial, Israel Augustus was found guilty of murder and pleaded guilty to possession with an intent to supply Class A drugs and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place.
Abdul-Rasheed Adedoja was also convicted of murder. The pair were given life sentences with minimum terms of 30 and 31 years respectively, minus time already served.
Wilson was jailed for nine years and Bakas for 10 years.
Sentencing, Norton said Cahalane was attacked because ‘he owed a significant drug debt’, adding he ‘suffered horrific injuries after he was doused in acid’.
She said: “Danny suffered significant corrosive injuries that had he survived would have been life-changing.
“For most if not all of the weeks between the assault and his death he would have been in significant pain.”
Jess Battison