York man on trial for murder – 24 years after he set fire to his girlfriend
A York man who set fire to his girlfriend is now responsible for her murder after she died 21 years later, prosecutors have argued.
Steven Paul Craig, 57, was convicted in 2000 of causing grievous bodily harm with intent after pouring petrol over Jacqueline Kirk and setting her on fire at Dolphin Square in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on 18 April 1998.
He has since served his punishment, while Ms Kirk died in hospital with a ruptured diaphragm on 23 August 2019 at the age of 62, Bristol Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Mr Smith told the court that the severe burns Craig inflicted on Ms Kirk, affecting 35% of her body, including her face, neck, chest, torso, thighs and buttocks, played a “significant” part in her death years later.
Mr Smith told the jury: “In 1998, this defendant attacked a woman by pouring petrol over her and setting her alight with a flame.
“The injuries inflicted were of great significance as a result of his actions.
“However, at that time the victim survived.
“As a result, the defendant was tried and punished for what he had then done.
“But the story does not end there.
“Many years later, the injured woman died as a result in part of the injuries that this defendant had inflicted on this victim.
“Therefore, we say that good sense and the law says that this defendant should be accountable for the full consequences of what he did.
“The prosecution say that this defendant can be described as having murdered the victim.”
He added: “The sole issue in this case is whether or not the injuries inflicted by the defendant did contribute to her death.
“The defence say this is simply not certain.”
Fatal consequences
Mr Smith said the main way in which the burns caused by Craig contributed to Ms Kirk’s death were that her skin could not stretch to accommodate the swelling of her intestines.
“The constriction, that ability to expand which would have been the case with normal skin, played a part in the rupture of the diaphragm which led to fatal consequences,” he said.
“The second part, members of the jury, is that her condition as a result of the injuries played a part in the decision not to intervene with the operation to try to repair the diaphragm and attempt at least to save her life.
“These two factors played a more than minimal part, a significant part, in contributing to her tragic death in 2019.
“We don’t suggest these are the only reasons for the complex medical situation in which she died, but they played a part.”
Mrs Justice Stacey told jurors they must decide whether the burns Ms Kirk suffered “played a significant part in the cause of her death some 20 years later” and to “put emotion aside to judge the case on the evidence”.
Craig, of Brailsford Road, York, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder.
His defence lawyer, Christopher Tehrani KC, argued that Ms Kirk’s abdomen was only partly scarred and was “capable of stretching”.
Mr Tehrani added that surgeons based their decision not to operate on her in part due to unrelated “co-morbidities”, including a heart problem.
“We will submit that the investigation into the cause of Jacqueline Kirk’s death was a complex and difficult one,” he said.
“The prosecution’s suggestion about the lack of stretching may not be correct.
“Although there’s clear scarring to the chest and abdomen of Ms Kirk, this scarring is mainly at the front with scarring on the right side of the lower chest and upper abdomen.
“When you take into account areas that are not scarred this would have allowed sufficient stretching of Ms Kirk’s abdomen.
“This rupture is likely to have occurred more likely than not in a person with no scarring.”
Mrs Justice Stacey told jurors they must decide whether the burns Ms Kirk suffered “played a significant part in the cause of her death some 20 years later” and to “put emotion aside to judge the case on the evidence”.
The trial continues.