Acid attack raider’s jail term over crime spree
ASERIAL burglar who doused a 69-year-old woman with acid after ransacking her home during a crime spree has been jailed.
Gerard Whelan, 44, armed himself with a screwdriver and corrosive liquid as he targeted a total of 10 victims over three days in December last year, threatening to kill them if they did not comply with his demands.
Whelan was sentenced to 18 years in prison at Wood Green Crown Court in London on Monday after earlier pleading guilty to 12 offences including aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Judge Joanna Greenberg QC said Whelan, of Penfold Place, Paddington, west London, had shown an “indiscriminate, unpredictable and unprovoked use of aggression”.
She told him: “By arming yourself with a screwdriver and corrosive liquid it demonstrates a degree of planning.
“What you did must have engendered great fear in all your victims, and, in the case of two who have made victim impact statements, resulted in life-changing physical and/or psychological damage.”
She added: “Your offences demonstrate an indiscriminate, unpredictable and unprovoked use of aggression, threats of violence, actual violence and cruelty.”
Whelan began his “campaign” of crime on December 12 when he entered the home of a man in Ilford and threatened to cover him with a liquid which he said was acid, and made off with cash, the court heard.
He attempted to rob several car users that morning, spraying some with the substance when they resisted.
The next day, Whelan broke into the Ilford home of a 69-year-old woman as she slept, and attacked her with a liquid. Judge Greenberg said the woman was woken by Whelan “standing over her armed with a screwdriver”.
She said: “You threatened to kill her if she did not remain quiet. She was terrified, crying and shaking.
“You removed her bangle and rings from her left hand and fingers, including her wedding rings”
The woman tried to get out through the back door but was stopped and doused with liquid which was found to be the same strength as sulphuric acid.
Judge Greenberg said: “For no reason you chose to pour liquid over her causing an immediate burning sensation.”
Whelan made off with some money, but the woman was said to be “so scared” that it was “some time before she felt brave enough to venture outside for help”.