Man jailed for a second time for threatening woman he set on fire
Ann Crossan suffered burns to her head and neck in 2015
A man has been sent back to jail, for threatening to set a woman on fire.
Stewart Watson was initially imprisoned for eight and a half years in 2016, for attempting to murder Ann Crossan by setting her alight in her home in West Lothian.
After being released, he took to social media to threaten to do it again.
Watson poured lighter fluid over her head at the home in Polbeth in September 2015.
Miss Crossan was left with scars for life when her head and neck were engulfed in flames, resulting in damage to her face and chest, as well as the loss of most of the cartilage on her ears.
She was put into an induced coma for two weeks while her burns were treated.
"Flames came right up at me"
She told Livingston Sheriff Court Watson had knocked on her door, and when she answered he through the flammable liquid at her.
Miss Crossan said: “Flames came right up at me.
“I just put my right hand up to my face, so the right side wasn’t as badly burned as the left side.
“I had glasses on. If I hadn’t I would’ve been blinded. I ran to the bathroom and just ducked my head in the water.
“My hair was on fire; my face, my neck, was on fire. I think my throat got a bit burnt as well. I lost quite a bit of my hair.”
In March this year, Watson, now 46, said he “enjoyed burning” Miss Crosaan, and that he would “do it again”.
The Court heard he had been admitted to a psychiatric ward shortly before the offence.
"I would've been blinded"
He had to apologise to a member of hospital staff at the ward in St John’s Hospital, after he admitted assaulting them in April this year, which resulted in him being remanded in custody.
The defence said: “I think it’s fair to say that when he posted the social media message he was suffering from some form of mental difficulty.”
He stressed that the social media post had not been sent directly to the complainer, adding: “It was for public consumption, as it were, and thereafter brought to the attention of the complainer and no doubt caused her significant distress.
“Once the issues in relation to Mr Watson’s mental health had been properly addressed he saw clearly how stupid a mistake it was to make the post.
“He apologised to the police at the time and wishes to apologise to the complainer.”
Sentencing
Sheriff Peter Hammond said he took into account Watson’s mental health background and his expressions of remorse, but given the seriousness of the charges and his previous convictions there was no alternative to a custodial sentence.
He jailed Watson for 20 months but backdated the sentence to 20 April when he was first remanded in custody.