A man deliberately threw a pan of boiling corrosive liquid into a man's face to permanently disfigure him because his victim had previously spoken to his girlfriend, a court has heard. The victim was left with horrific burns to his face, scalp, neck and body and only very limited vision after the powerful alkaline liquid burned his eyes.
Swansea Crown Court heard Jivan Dean brought the substance to the property where he knew his victim would be and heated it on a stove before throwing it in the man's face. A judge described the 'wickedness' of what 24-year-old Dean did as 'beyond all reasonableness'. He told the defendant he was guilty of a "cold, calculated, deliberate act of unimaginable cruelty, designed to maim your victim for life."
In a powerful statement read to the court, the victim said Dean would never know the pain and suffering he had caused him and his family, adding that the defendant had 'ruined' his life. Dean, who remained emotionless throughout the hearing, was handed a 19-year prison sentence for being a dangerous offender.
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The alkaline attack took place on August 14 this year in the so-called Tipi Valley community near Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire. Carina Hughes, prosecuting, said that afternoon that the victim in the case - 20-year-old Raven Riley - had visited a friend at the location, and that about an hour later the suspect also arrived with a bag. She said Mr Riley knew the defendant socially and as an "acquaintance" but as far as he was concerned there were no issues between them. The prosecutor said Divan had previously told people he suspected there had been "some kind of contact" between his girlfriend and Mr Riley. For his part, Mr Riley said he had spoken to the woman in question once, and that was in the presence of the defendant. .
The court heard that other people present at the property later reported seeing Dean making funny faces, laughing softly and "mumbling" to himself while at the property. The prosecutor said he later saw a pot of white liquid heating up on the stove in the kitchen. When asked what it was, he said it was ketamine. The defendant then grabbed the hot pot from the stove and walked into the room where Mr Riley was sitting alone looking at his phone. Dean threw the contents of the jar in his victim's face and shouted, "Stay away from my girlfriend!"
The court heard that Mr Riley immediately felt pain and burning and began screaming. He tore off some of his clothes and ran around looking for a tap while shouting: "Help! Help" It's burning, I can't see it". The prosecutor said the corrosive power of the fluid involved was so great, that the victim had had a leather chair. While he was sitting on it, people nearby "bubbled" and melted to the victim's aid and placed him under the tap before taking him to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen, from where he was transferred to the specialist burn unit at Morrison Hospital The aftermath of the attack described how his face was red and his eyes were white, and how he was shaking and clearly in shock The court heard tests on the victim's T-shirt showed that the corrosive was sodium hydroxide.
Meanwhile, Dean had left Tipi Valley and a police manhunt was launched to find him. The court heard that in the following days the suspect contacted a number of friends who advised him to turn himself in, and then on August 16 he was spotted by police officers walking near the Penygaer playing fields in Llanelli and arrested. He was interviewed twice the next day and replied "no comment" to all questions asked. For the latest court reports, sign up for our crime newsletter here
The court heard the victim suffered burns to six percent of his body, some of which were full thickness burns. The burns were mainly to his face, scalp, neck and chest, but his arms and legs were also burned. Mr Riley underwent 'significant ophthalmological surgery' to try to save his sight, a routine of regular showering and re-bandaging of wounds, and then required a skin graft on his scalp after an infection developed.
In a statement read to the court by the prosecutor, Mr Riley described the impact of what the suspect had done to him. He said he had scars on his face, head, neck and body and that he had no vision in one eye and very limited vision in the other. He said he cannot read or perform daily life tasks with help from his family, is in constant pain, rarely leaves the house and is kept awake most nights by nightmares. Mr Riley said he was waiting to start counseling and had not yet had time to start processing what had happened to him. He said he would never look the way he used to and that was something he would have to come to terms with, recalling how he spent his 21st birthday in pain and being treated in hospital. He said the defendant had taken his eyesight, adding: "He [Dean] I will never know how much pain and suffering he caused me and my family. He ruined my life
Jivan Dean, of Talley, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, had previously pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and to throwing a dangerous or noxious object with intent to burn, maim, disfigure or causing any grievous bodily harm to any person when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has one previous conviction for one offense, possession of ketamine in 2020.
Richard Ace, for Dean, said the defendant was born in Gloucestershire and then moved to West Wales. He said his client was home-schooled and was "not unintelligent", although he had no qualifications whatsoever, and said he had worked as a labourer. The lawyer described Dean as "a man of few words" and said on behalf of the defendant that he had felt "disparaged by any attention paid to his girlfriend by the complainant in the case".
Judge Geratin Walters described the facts of the case as "truly disturbing". He said it appeared the defendant felt slighted by Mr Riley's actions in relation to his girlfriend and that he intended to mutilate his victim so that no woman would ever look at him that way again. He said, "The wickedness of this goes beyond most reasoning." The judge told Dean he was guilty of a "cold, calculated, deliberate act of unimaginable cruelty designed to maim your victim for life."
The suspect noted the defendant's attitude towards the author of the report, where he was hostile towards the woman and stared straight at her in silence for a long time. He also noted that the suspect had said he had no intention of participating in prison courses or any assistance offered.
The judge said Dean had shown absolutely no remorse for what he had done and that he had no doubt that he should be considered a dangerous offender within the meaning of the law. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Dean was subjected to an extended sentence of 19 years, consisting of 15 years in prison and an extended license period of four years. He can apply for release after serving two-thirds of the prison sentence, but it will be up to the parole board to determine whether it is safe to release him.
After the sentencing, Craig Harding, a senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Dean's shocking attack showed that he intended to cause really serious harm to the victim. Mr Riley suffered life-changing injuries as a result. We hope that Mr Riley's recovery continues and that he can take some comfort in knowing that his attacker has been brought to justice.
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