Man cleared after cousins suffer burns in explosion

A man who squirted ethanol on a portable heater before flames exploded in the faces of two women has been found not guilty of intentionally injuring them.

Dale Carter, 30, from Ruben Walk, Earls Colne, Essex, had been charged with two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm after Ashleigh and April Charlesworth suffered serious burns.

The incident happened in April 2021 at a pub in Great Cornard, near Sudbury, Suffolk, and left the cousins having to be put on ventilators and placed in induced comas.

Jurors at Ipswich Crown Court spent just over an hour deliberating their verdict before unanimously clearing Carter, who said he had "felt like he was in a nightmare he could not wake up from".

Warning: This article contains an image of severe burn injuries

The court heard how the cousins, now 32 and 31, had been at the pub with friends to celebrate April's 28th birthday and the lifting of the Covid-19 lockdown.

They were sitting outside on a cold evening, so April's brother Sam went to get a table-top heater and a bottle of ethanol from his mother's house nearby.

He made it clear on his return that only he could operate and touch it before using the fuel to light the heater and putting the bottle back in a bag, the court heard.

The court was told he had also received a message from his mother warning him to "be careful pouring the liquid" into the heater.

Before the incident, it was claimed Carter had been "joking around" with the heater and was told by Sam that being careless with the fluid could "cause a fireball".

Carter disputed this, and said that no "general instructions" had been given out in relation to the use of the heater, nor was the term "fireball" used.

Moments before the explosion, Sam had left the area in an attempt to diffuse an argument that had broken out between a group of women.

Carter, standing in front of Ashleigh and April, who were sitting, then poured the fluid onto the heater, reportedly creating a "30cm flame".

"That was the clearest possible warning not to do it again," said prosecuting barrister Dingle Clark.

The second time the bottle of ethanol exploded just a few feet away from where the cousins were sitting, resulting in severe burns to their face, chest and hands.

Carter also suffered burns and injuries.

Both were admitted to separate hospitals and did not see each other for a month, during which time they were put on ventilators and placed in an induced coma.

Clark said their injuries had been a result of Carter's "reckless" behaviour, adding he "must have known there was a risk" when he squirted the fluid on the heater.

"It would be a nonsense to suggest he didn't," he said.

"He is clearly not stupid, he does not suffer from some cognitive failure and he is not a child - he is a fully grown and fully functioning adult and a father.

"And so, that's why the prosecution say he must have known and appreciated there was a risk of some injury."

According to defence barrister Michael Epstein, Carter "did not see any danger", only stood up at the table so he could see what he was doing, did not see any warning signs on the bottle, and his "only thought was to top the fire up".

Earlier in the trial, Carter had argued it "was an accident" and that his only thought had been to stop the fire from going out as "people were saying they were cold".

The court was also told he was immediately remorseful and had been left with a "guilt, serious sadness and horrible burden".

Epstein also said Carter had told the group of friends: "I feel so bad, I tipped something on the fire and it wasn't big enough so I did it again.

"They're all going to hate me - I'm sorry I've messed up your birthday."

The defence barrister told the court that the police investigation into the incident was initially closed, before the cousins appealed the decision and the case was reopened.

"This was a horrible accident and there's no suggestion this was a man showing off or having fun by pouring fuel onto a flame," he said.

"For the prosecution, this is actually a straw-clutching exercise to try and justify that Carter is criminally responsible for the horrific injuries that they suffered.

"He wasn't being cavalier – he did what he did thinking everything would be fine, because otherwise he simply would not have done it."

The jury accepted Carter’s account and found him not guilty.

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