Xeneral Webster: Teenager jailed for first acid attack killing in UK

Joanne Rand's face and body was covered in industrial strength substance

A teenager has been jailed for 17 years after being convicted of manslaughter in the UK’s first acid attack killing.

Xeneral Webster, 19, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Joanne Rand part way through his trial in April at Reading Crown Court.

Ms Rand’s face and body was covered in industrial strength sulphuric acid after she was caught up in a fight over drugs between Webster and another man on 3 June last year.

The 47-year-old nurse was sitting on a bench in High Wycombe after visiting her daughter’s grave when Webster approached and threatened the other man with acid.

The man knocked the bottle out of Webster’s hand and it then rolled and hit Ms Rand, whose face instantly “begun to burn.”

The court heard she screamed in pain and ran to a nearby branch of KFC to splash water over herself.

Although she was treated for her injuries after suffering up to 5 per cent burns and released from Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the mother of three died 11 days after the attack from multiple organ failure after she developed sepsis.

Xeneral Webster, 19, admitted manslaughter after a nurse died after being covered in acid (Thames Valley Police)

Sentencing Webster, Judge Angela Morris said: “You and your actions bear the responsibility for her [Ms Rand’s] tragic demise.”

Referring to his carrying of a corrosive substance on April 19 2017, she added: “The fact remains, you had this substance with you in a public place and you cannot have failed to realise the significant harm its contents would have caused to others had it been released.

“Because it is a liquid it is all the more likely to be indiscriminate in its spread.”

Judge Morris said she had concluded Webster posed a risk to the public and as well as 17 years in custody gave him an extended licence period of three years.

Talking about Ms Rand she continued: “The cost of your actions were incalculable and irreparable for her family and friends and there is no sentence which this court can pass which can replace the value of her life.”

Joanne Rand, 47, had been visiting her daughter’s grave when she was covered in acid during a drugs fight (Thames Valley Police)

Webster was also sentenced for two counts of possessing an offensive weapon, namely a samurai sword and ammonia, and criminal damage, and making threats to kill relating to a separate incident to which he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

He had previously been attacked with acid himself, and had permanent scarring from where the liquid burned him.

Prosecutor Lesley Bates said: “There is much public concern about carrying knives and more recently about the escalation of the use of acid on the streets by young people.”

Ms Rand worked at the Sir Aubrey Ward care home in Marlow and was described as “hard-working and passionate about her job” in a tribute issued by her family in October.

Her family have since called for tough sentences for people carrying acid. Ms Rand’s daughter Katie Pitwell, 18, said: “I think the buying of acid needs to be restricted but also if someone is carrying it there should be tougher sentences because most of the time they do intend to use it for harm.”

She added: “He went out with the intention of hurting someone and it’s an innocent person that got hurt in this situation. People need to know that if they’re carrying that type of stuff, it’s going to hurt someone or kill someone.”

Webster sat with his arms crossed and looked around the dock as Ms Rand’s sisters read a victim impact statement.

“All we have now is tears and upset. We have lost so much,” she continued.

“There is a massive hole in our lives. It was a year in June since Jo died but it only feels like yesterday.

“None of us really know how to cope with this great sadness and pain we feel, it is so intense and it never really leaves us.”

Rand was born in County Durham, the youngest of five sisters, and grew up in High Wycombe, where she lived for the rest of her life.

According to prosecutors, Webster’s manslaughter conviction is the first acid killing in the UK.

Adrian Foster, from the CPS, said: “The consequences of Webster’s actions serve as a tragic example.

“I hope his conviction and subsequent sentence will serve as a reminder that the full extent of the law will be used robustly against those who use acid as a weapon intending to maim, disfigure or cause the death of a victim.”

Additional reporting by Press Association