Cousins burned after heater turns into fireball was ‘accident’ | UK | News
A man accused of pouring fuel into a tabletop heater at a pub that left two of his cousins seriously burned has been unanimously cleared by a jury. Dale Carter, 30, has denied causing grievous bodily harm to Ashleigh Charlesworth on April 24, 2021, in what his defense lawyer described as a “terrible accident”.
The jury at Ipswich Crown Court took an hour to unanimously return a not guilty verdict for Carter, of Earles Colne in Suffolk.
The court heard April Charlesworth celebrated her 28th birthday at the Kings Head pub in Great Cornard, Suffolk. Carter was with her cousin Ashleigh Charlesworth and her friends when she sprayed fuel into a tabletop heater with devastating results.
April, a former Colchester Institute student, suffered burns to her neck, hands and face when a fuel bottle exploded. Ashleigh Charlesworth, a former pediatric nurse, was placed on a ventilator after her airway began to swell and she suffered burns to her chest, face and hands.
The court heard the night in question was the cousins’ first night after Covid quarantine and they and the rest of the group were seated at tables in the pub’s car park.
Defending Michael Epstein accused the prosecution of being “drunk” by arguing that his client was criminally responsible for what happened.
Prosecuting attorney Dingle Clark told the jury that Carter was a “fully functional adult” and should have known that squirting fuel into the heater in this way posed a risk of causing some injuries.
He said the prosecution accepted that Carter did not deliberately set out to cause injury to the victims, but acted recklessly.
Mr Clark added: “He must have known there was a risk when he put fuel on the fire. It would be nonsense to suggest he didn’t do that.”
It was a cold evening, and April’s brother, Sam Charlesworth, had gone to his mother’s house nearby and returned with a tabletop heater and a bottle of ethanol.
He turned on the heater and allegedly placed the fuel bottle in a bag before briefly leaving the area where everyone was seated.
When he returned, he heard screams and saw flames on the table and realized that his sister and cousin were badly injured.
After the hearing, Mr Dale did not want to comment.
