Two York men are facing life sentences after being found guilty of spraying a man with lighter fuel and setting him on fire.
Joshua Strickland, 29, and Robinson Binks, 27, denied the offence but were found guilty at York Crown Court today of causing grievous bodily harm with intent by a unanimous jury verdict.
Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said that Strickland and Binks sprayed the named victim with “some form of flammable fluid and set him alight” at a York flat.
The incident occurred in the early hours of April 19 when the victim went to his female friend’s flat in Fossway where they had some drinks.
The two defendants, who both knew the man but weren’t friends of his, turned up at the address at about 12.30am.
They went into the living room and “without warning, or indeed explanation, Joshua Stickland began to spray the victim with what he believed to be lighter fluid or flammable fluid”.
“The spray hit him on the back and side and he was then set on fire,” added Ms Morrison.
Strickland and Binks went on the run for several days after the offence, sparking a major manhunt in April last year.
As the man retreated from the pair, they followed him around the room and continued to spray lighter fuel on him, “laughing with one another as they did so”.
They then left the flat as the man “ran out into the street, screaming”.
Luckily, he was spotted by a neighbour who poured water on him and the emergency services were called.
Police and an ambulance arrived and took the man to hospital where he was treated for “relatively superficial burns and blistering”. He also suffered some skin loss to his back and shoulder.
Went on the run
Following their arrest, Strickland, whose last registered address was a hotel in Eboracum Way, and Binks, of Clarence Street, claimed they weren’t at the flat when the man was attacked and “provided a completely different location as to where they were” at the time of the incident.
Following the unanimous verdicts, judge Simon Hickey ordered a prison psychiatrist to assess Strickland and Binks before he passes sentence. He said he wanted to know how dangerous they were.
He said he would consider passing life sentences on the two men for their “shocking” crimes.
Both men had previous convictions.
Strickland pleaded guilty to damaging the victim’s father’s car with an offensive weapon at an address in York on 23 April, four days after the attack.
On the first day of his trial, which began last week, he admitted this attack was intended to threaten and intimidate the man who had been set on fire.
The pair will be sentenced on 17 January 2025.