Man sentenced to life after ex-partner victim dies two years after petrol attack

Victim Ellen Marshall’s daughter says her mother never got the chance to meet her grandchild

Leigh Pateman has been jailed for life at Lincoln Crown Court for murdering his partner (Lincolnshire Police /PA)

A man has been handed an upgraded life sentence for murder after he killed his partner by pouring petrol on her lap and setting the fuel alight.

Leigh Pateman, 45, was previously sentenced to 17 years and 10 months for grievous bodily harm with intent, but admitted the murder of Ellen Marshall in November after she died from her injuries on March 11 2023, nearly two years after the incident.

The defendant, who appeared by video link on Monday from HMP Garth in Lancashire, was given a minimum term of 23 years and 145 days by Judge Simon Hirst at Lincoln Crown Court.

Emergency services were called to their property in Firbeck Avenue, Skegness, on the evening of 22 April, 2021 where Pateman appeared to have set fire to Ms Marshall during an argument.

The court heard that Pateman told police that he was “messing about” by flicking his lighter to “scare her” before she caught on fire and he fled the scene on his bike.

A fire crew entered the property and were met with “black smoke” before they heard Ms Marshall making a “gurgling” sound on the floor, the court was told.

Prosecutor Sarah Knight said the mother-of-four was left with “little hair on her head” and her face was so badly burned her appearance had been “radically altered”.

She told the court that Ms Marshall, who was aged 43 when she died, sustained “profoundly serious, life-altering injuries”, including 80 per cent full-thickness burns to her torso, face, and limbs, which required skin grafts.

Ms Marshall, whose chance of survival was given at less than 50 per cent, also lost fingers and had limited movement in the years following the attack. Her cause of death was recorded as pneumonia and the long-term consequence of burns.

The court heard that Pateman had traits of a mixed personality disorder, suffered alcohol dependence for more than 30 years starting when he was aged nine or 10, and regularly used drugs.

A witness who shared the multiple occupancy property with the couple heard Pateman say he was “going to set Ellen alight and pour petrol all over her” a few days before the attack, but she thought it was a “joke”, the court heard.

Ms Marshall’s daughter, Paige Clarke, wrote a victim impact statement that was read to the court which said her mother “deserved better” and had never got to meet her first grandchild.

Katherine Goddard KC, defending Pateman, said: “I have been instructed on the remorse Mr Pateman feels for his actions and the consequences to Ms Marshall and her family.

“They were far beyond what he intended and he has had many years to accept the enormity of his actions and the consequences.”

Judge Hirst said to the defendant: “You threatened to set her alight and pour petrol over her. On other occasions, you threatened to kill Ms Marshall. This is not a sudden outburst of temper in an otherwise healthy relationship.

“Whenever a person over the age of 21 is convicted of murder, the court is required to sentence the defendant to imprisonment for life. That is the position for you.”