MAN JAILED FOR SCARRING GIRLFRIEND WITH BOILING WATER
A man who scarred his on-off girlfriend for life by hurling a kettle of boiling water at her during a row was jailed today.Keeley Foldesi was left suffering nightmares, sleepless nights and turned to drink to numb the pain she suffered at the hands of Justin Ellis.
An argument broke out between the pair after he returned to her flat in Brighton, in an "odd mood" on the evening of December 19 2005.
Prosecutor Paul Cavin said New Zealand-born Miss Foldesi asked unemployed Ellis to leave but she refused to give him money for a taxi.
Lewes Crown Court heard that Ellis went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea which she threw at him before he hurled the recently boiled kettle at her in an underarm action.
She immediately started to scream as she felt her arms burning.
She was clothed but the top she was wearing soaked up the boiling water quickly.
She removed her jumper and could see her skin actually hanging off.
She described freaking out.
As neighbours heard her screams, 27-year-old Ellis led her into the shower room to run cold water over her wounds.
But Mr Cavin said Ellis would take her to hospital only after they had "got the story straight" by asking her to tell doctors she tripped over the kettle cord.
Doctors at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton treated her burns, antibiotics, and painkillers but she returned three days after being discharged suffering from dehydration.
Miss Foldesi's victim impact statement was read, in which she described having to attend hospital every 48 hours to have her wounds rebandaged.
She was also off work for four weeks, losing £1,500 in earnings.
Ellis, of Thetford, Norfolk, admitted grievous bodily harm.
Describing his actions as "an appalling act of violence", Judge Charles Kemp sentenced him to 18 months in jail.
Additionally, Ellis was jailed for two months to run consecutively for breaching a conditional discharge in September 2004 for possessing 15 Ecstasy pills.
Ellis sought to show remorse, and the court noted his efforts to help her into the shower and hospital, but ultimately sentenced him for grievous bodily harm with an 18-month sentence plus two months for breach of a previous discharge.
