A woman has been jailed for three years for throwing boiling water over a fellow prisoner at HMP Low Newton on Christmas Day following a dispute over tweezers.
Jessica Blenkiron, 23, of Shaftoe Road, Sunderland, was on remand at the County Durham prison for stabbing her neighbour in a row over trainers when the attack took place last December.
Attack over tweezers
While held on C-wing, an issue arose with another inmate about the return of tweezers that had been loaned to Blenkiron. Two days before the attack, she told the woman she could not find them.
On Christmas Day, an angry exchange took place, after which Blenkiron shouted for the woman to come to her cell if she wanted the tweezers. When the woman did so, Blenkiron threw boiling water from a kettle over her face, neck and arm.
The victim said she felt it burning immediately and could feel her skin stinging and throbbing. Blenkiron closed her cell door after the attack, later telling a prison officer she was "sick of being bullied so swilled her".
Injuries and sentence
Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim suffered second degree burns to her face, back, neck, arm and hand and a grade one burn to her wrist. Her right forearm was blistered in three places, and she had to wear bandages for two weeks and take painkillers.
In a victim impact statement, she said: "I feel stupid to have let this happen. We've never had issues before this. I was not expecting to be assaulted."
Blenkiron, who has 13 previous convictions, including the one for knifing her neighbour for which she received a suspended sentence in April, pleaded guilty to causing GBH with intent.
Recorder Jamie Hill KC told her: "I understand and appreciate that relationships between inmates in prison can be difficult and pose, no doubt, additional challenges for someone such as yourself who has struggled with mental health issues. But what you did was very dangerous. It had very unpleasant consequences, at least in the short term, and could have been so much worse."
Sophie Allinson-Howells, defending, said Blenkiron is a "complex individual" with a "lengthy history with the mental health services", including PTSD and bipolar disorder. The court heard she had a difficult start in life, had been in an abusive relationship, and had "descended into drug taking and committing petty crimes", but had never been to prison before she was remanded last year.
