MAN GUILTY OF SETTING FIRE TO EX-MODEL

Jury told of lighter fuel attack on doorstep

A man has been found guilty of showering a woman in lighter fluid and setting her on fire.

A jury took just over an hour to return a majority verdict to convict 36-yearold Stewart John Watson of attempted murder.

He had denied throwing flaming liquid at former model Anne Crossan on the doorstep of her home in the village of Polbeth on September 4 last year.

Judge Lord Bannatyne

called for background reports on Watson – known as “Wad”. The accused has been in custody since his arrest the day after the crime.

The High Court at Livingston was told that Miss Crossan, 47, suffered horrific burns to her scalp, face, neck and right hand which have left her with ugly scars.

Medics at St John’s Hospital in Livingston put her on life support in an induced coma for two weeks to help her injuries to heal.

Once she was brought out of the coma she had to relearn how to walk and talk and she is still undergoing treatment for the physical and psychological scarring she suffered.

Outside court , Miss Crossan said she was delighted at the guilty verdict.

She said: “I’m glad it’s all over and I hope he will have to serve a very long prison sentence for what he did to me. My vocal chords were paralysed and I had to learn how to walk and talk again.

“I had to use a zimmer to move around because I had no power in my legs. It’s been an absolute nightmare.”

In his closing speech, advocate depute Adrian Cottam reminded jurors of the 999 call made by Miss Crossan minutes after the attack.

They were played a recording in which she tells the call handler: “I’ve just been attacked by Wad. He just threw petrol about me with a lighter. He said: ‘F**k you, ya b**ch.’”

Mr Cottam said she had had no time to make up a story and had given clear and compelling evidence that she had heard Watson saying his name before she opened her door to him.

After the attack, she gave evidence that the accused just turned and walked away, leaving her screaming in agony. Mr Cottam said the accused had a motive because of a fall-out between him, Miss Crossan and his former girlfriend Sharon Christie.

Watson admitted to police the next day that he had been wearing blue trainers on the evening of the attack.

Forensic scientists found traces of lighter fluid on his shoes and two cans of a similar fluid in his home, one of them empty.

The chemical make- up of the lighter fluid matched traces found on a top Miss Crossan had been wearing and on a towel she had used after plunging her flaming head into a bath full of water.

Watson is due to be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on August 5.