Reservoir Dogs killer gets life for 1998 fire attack
Victim’s death has been linked to the injuries from the ‘callous and brutal’ film-inspired assault
A MAN convicted of murdering his partner using a method inspired by Reservoir Dogs has received his second life sentence for the attack that happened 24 years ago.
Steven Craig, 58, was imitating a scene from the Quentin Tarantino film when he doused Jackie Kirk in petrol and held a lighter to her face in a car park in Weston-super-mare, Somerset, in April 1998.
He was convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent for the attack on the mother-of-two, and handed a discretionary life sentence with a minimum term of nine years for that and two other offences in 2000.
Craig served nearly 19 years in prison, but was then arrested and charged with murder in June last year after Kirk’s death at the age of 61 in August 2019.
A jury at Bristol Crown Court unanimously convicted Craig of the charge last month, finding the injuries caused by him – including burns to 35 per cent of Kirk’s body – were linked to her dying from a ruptured diaphragm.
In a landmark case that was televised, Mrs Justice Stacey jailed Craig for life yesterday and told him the total sentence for his crime should be 34 years. She set the minimum term he must now serve in prison as 15 years and five days, meaning he will have spent at least 34 years in prison for the attack.
She said to Craig: “Jackie described you watching the film with a permanent grin and that you liked seeing the torture. You enjoyed acting like the characters in the film. There is no doubt that you planned and intended to engage in a gratuitous, deliberate and monstrous attack upon Jackie during
that road trip with whatever means at your disposal and to intimidate her psychologically to cause maximum physical and mental pain over a period of days.”
The judge highlighted the “level of sadism and extreme nature of the attack”, describing it as “just so callous and so brutal”.
The judge paid tribute to Kirk’s bravery and determination following the attack, which left her in hospital for nine months and requiring 14 operations including a tracheotomy and skin grafts. She survived for 21 years and was able to see her son and daughter get married and have their own children.
Craig, of Brailsford Crescent, York, admitted the attack on Kirk, but denied being responsible for her death.