Man sentenced for boiling water anti-gay attack

ATLANTA — Georgia man who threw boiled water on a gay couple has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. A jury convicted Martin Blackwell on Wednesday of eight counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault in the attack that left Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert with severe burns that required multiple surgeries. Prosecutors had said Blackwell faced up to 80 years in prison. Blackwell’s defence attorney acknowledged that he poured water on the pair and said he deserved to be punished, but the lawyer asked jurors to find that it was reckless conduct. Prosecutors said it was a vicious, premeditated attack, and that Blackwell told one of the men “get out of my house with all that gay” after pouring hot water on the couple.