Khaled Aziz scalded a woman's stomach with boiling sugar water just one day after dousing her with fuel and threatening to burn her alive, Newcastle Crown Court heard. The attack occurred on April 8 last year, when Aziz returned to the victim's home, forced her towards the stairs, boiled a kettle of sugar water, and poured it on her stomach while threatening to kill her.
Attack with fuel and lighter search
The day before, on April 7, Aziz arrived at the woman's home wearing a 'Guy Fawkes-style' half mask, shouting and smashing plant pots. He left and returned with a strong-smelling liquid that the victim believed was petrol, doused her with it, and searched her house for a lighter but could not find one. Judge Recorder Andrew Latimer said: 'That was a terrifying experience for a lone woman in her own home to be poured in something that she believed was petrol and the criminal who did it was now searching for a lighter.'
Hospital treatment and further violence
The woman suffered first-degree burns and was treated at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, receiving morphine for pain. She temporarily moved in with family, and the council boarded up her home. However, on April 29, just four days after she returned, Aziz broke into her house while she slept and burned her back with hair straighteners, having vowed to murder her.
Victim impact and sentencing
In a victim impact statement read in court, the woman said: 'What happened to me has caused long-lasting physical, emotional and practical consequences that I'm still dealing with every day. The physical injuries affect my ability to carry out normal everyday tasks and have left me feeling vulnerable in my own body. During the attack, an accelerant was poured over me while I was threatened with being set on fire. I was also subjected to threats to kill me - these threats were terrifying. I genuinely believed that I was going to die.'
Aziz was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court for the attacks.
