Father in custody battle had son, three, sprayed with acid
A FATHER plotted a “monstrous” acid attack against his three-year-old son in an attempt to win custody from his mother, a court has ruled.
The parent, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his child, and five other men were unanimously convicted by a jury of conspiring to throw sulphuric acid with intent to “burn, maim or disfigure” the boy in the July 2018 attack.
During the six-week trial at Worcester Crown Court, the jury heard that the youngster screamed “I hurt” over and over after sustaining serious injuries to his face and arm at a Home Bargains store.
Footage then showed the three men calmly making their escape – with one even stopping at the tills to purchase two items.
The Crown alleged that the father, who was jailed for 16 years, had been angry at his wife for walking out on him in 2016 and attacked his son in an attempt to win more contact with the child by showing that his mother was unfit to care for him.
Jurors deliberated for nine hours before convicting the father, from Wolverhampton but originally from Afghanistan, yesterday.
In a statement read out as the father was jailed, the boy’s mother said she feared that her estranged husband’s sense of “honour” would drive him to kill her if he was ever released.
Judge Robert Juckes QC, who granted the mother a lifetime restraining order, accepted her testimony that the father had once talked to an imam about killing her, after she had previously walked out with their children in 2012.
She also told of how her husband had once watched a video about a father who had killed his daughter, and afterwards then said to her: “That’s our culture. They call it honour killing.”
Jurors also convicted co-conspirators Adam Cech, Jan Dudi, Norbert Pulko, Jabar Paktia, and Saied Hussini of plotting to spray sulphuric acid on the boy with intent to cause harm.
The men were each sentenced to prison terms of between 12 and 14 years for their roles in what the judge called a “shocking” attack.
Another individual, Martina Badiova, was cleared by a majority verdict of conspiring to carry out the attack on the young boy, who has since made a “good recovery” and is living with his mother.
Judge Juckes said the men “spent the night in celebration” after the attack, “as though none of you began to appreciate the monstrous thing you had done”.
Passing sentence, Judge Juckes said: “Even battle-hardened crown court judges were sickened when they heard the news that someone had attacked a three-year-old with sulphuric acid.
“As the news became clearer, it seemed only to darken. This was not some momentary loss of temper or irrational anger-fuelled revenge.
“It became increasingly apparent how well-planned this was, with links going back to the man, who plainly was at the heart of this attack, who was that own boy’s own father.
“It is an extraordinary thing in this case that not one of you, most of whom have no previous convictions, and most of whom with families of your own, at any stage stood back and asked the question of yourself and others, ‘What are we doing?”’
The trial was marked by high tension, smirking and mockery between the defendants, with the trial judge saying that nearly all those found guilty had run “markedly cut-throat” defences.
As the jury deliberated, the dock officers put in a request for extra security from Judge Juckes QC because they were concerned about any potential trouble when the verdicts were read out.