The woman, who was “livid” and “fuming” when she heard about the abuse, poured a mixture of sugar and boiling water on her husband, who later died from his injuries.
Trigger Warning: This story contains instances of abuse and murder that may be disturbing to readers.
It's never easy for a mother to find out that her children were the victims of abuse, especially at the hands of someone they know and trust. In a shocking incident that took place in July last year, a mother-of-two killed her husband in his sleep with boiling sugar water because he allegedly assaulted his own children, reports The Blaze.
The woman was reportedly “livid” and “fuming” when her daughter told her that her husband had physically abused her and her brother “for many years when they were children.” So, Corinna Smith, 59, poured the liquid—containing three bags of sugar mixed with boiling water from two kettles— over Michael Baines, 80, while he was sleeping, per New York Post. The incident took place in Neston, near Liverpool, according to court documents.
Prosecutors told a local court the sugar "made the liquid more viscous, thicker and stickier, so that it stays on the skin and causes greater damage." After pouring the sticky substance onto Baines, Smith fled from the crime scene and went to a house nearby, where she told a neighbor about the assault, "I've hurt him really bad, I think I've killed him." The neighbor contacted the police, and an ambulance was on its way to the wounded man.
Police found Baines "in excruciating pain and whimpering in bed with the skin on his right arm and hand peeling off," according to the BBC. He was taken to Whiston Hospital Burns Unit where he was stabilized in the critical care unit and later the high dependency unit. He spent five weeks there, while the medical team tried their best to keep him alive. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries in August 2020.
"He was in hospital for five weeks and needed repeated surgery and skin grafts, but he died a month later, on August 18, last year," the Liverpool Echo reported. Following the incident, Smith was initially charged with grievous bodily harm, and after the death of her husband, she was charged with murder.
Corinna Smith in the Echo tonight there should be big fucking statue made of her as a hero! She killed her husband who abused her kids, her son took his own life. The woman shouldn’t be going to jail for killing a nonce who abused her kids, they all need it! 👊🏻
— Joe Selkirk (@JoeSelkirk69) July 9, 2021
Per Cheshire Constabulary, Detective Chief Inspector Paul Hughes, from Cheshire Constabulary’s Major Crime Directorate, said, “Smith killed her husband Michael in such a painful and cruel way. To throw boiling water over someone when they are asleep is absolutely horrific. To also mix three bags of sugar with the water showed the determination she had to cause serious harm."
"The sugar placed into the water makes it vicious," he continued. "It becomes thicker and stickier and sinks into the skin better. It left Michael in agony." Smith's son, Craig, died by suicide in 2007. Before his death, he reportedly went to prison for an assault. He had told his mother the man he attacked was a "paedophile."
“He had been troubled before his death and had been to prison for a serious assault,” said Judge Amanda Yip DBE, according to Law and Crime. “He had told you that the man he attacked had been a paedophile and that he had touched him sexually. The day before Craig’s death, he had been in some distress and had said: ‘Mum, he’s a paedophile.’ You understood him to be referring to the man he had assaulted. Craig seemed happier the next day and you did not explore what he had said further. Your trial could not and did not explore the truth of the allegations made against your husband.”
Free Corinna Smith! She murdered her husband after her kids told her he sexually abused them! She did nothing wrong. So what she killed him, all child molestors deserve to be dead. Anyone that touches kids don’t need to be alive! What’s her gofundme? She needs to be free!
— Taylor (@MellaSoldier) July 11, 2021
“Michael was an elderly man who fought for his life after the attack but sadly in the end he passed away. My thoughts continue to be with his family at this incredibly difficult time," added Hughes.
On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, a jury found Smith guilty of murder following a five-day trial at Chester Crown Court and was sentenced. She was sentenced at the same court on Friday, 9 July for 12 years to life.
References:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/mother-killed-husband-water-
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-57768105
https://nypost.com/2021/07/11/uk-mom-killed-hubby-after-he-sexually-abused-her-kids/
Cover Image Source: Facebook | Ellesmere Port Police
