WESTON-SUPER-MARE MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER AFTER 21 YEARS
Steven Craig, aged 58, was found responsible for the murder of his former partner Jacqueline Kirk, who succumbed 21 years after he set her on fire.The assault took place in Weston-super-Mare in 1998, when Craig poured petrol over Kirk and ignited it, inspired by a scene from the film Reservoir Dogs.
Initially, Craig was convicted of grievous bodily harm and served time in prison, being released in 2015.
Jacqueline Kirk died in 2019 due to complications from extensive burns covering 35% of her body, which left her disfigured and necessitated months of hospital care including skin grafts.
Subsequently, the court charged Craig with murder, and after a jury deliberation lasting approximately four hours and forty-five minutes at Bristol Crown Court, he was convicted.
His conviction is thought to be a legal precedent, given the considerable gap between the attack and her death.
Craig is scheduled to be sentenced on 9 November, with the judge remarking on the case's complexity during the trial.
