A woman went to her 59-year-old mother and admitted that her husband, Michael, has sexually assaulted her and her brother when they were younger. After the mother, Corinna Smith heard the news, she boiled two kettles of water and mixed it with 3 bags of sugar. She then transported the boiling mixture in a bucket to her 80-year-old sleeping husband and poured it over him. As a result of her actions, she was sentenced to life in prison.
The prosecutors spoke about why such a harsh sentence was given. They said that adding sugar made the liquid more ‘viscous, thicker and stickier, so that it stays on the skin and causes greater damage and that is exactly what it did.’
As a result, her husband was admitted to the Whiston Hospital Burns Units critical care unit with burns over 36% of his body. They performed multiple surgeries, including skin grafts but 5 weeks later, he passed away as a result of his injuries.
According to Smith’s daughter, she and her younger brother, Craig, has been abused sexually by Baines for many years when they were children. Craig was so distraught over the abuse that he committed suicide in 2007 when he was only 25 years old.
Prior to his death, he had a number of run-ins with the law and spent time in prison for assault. He told his mother that he had assaulted a pedophile that had ‘touched him sexually’. Smith put things together with what her daughter had told her and then gave her own form of punishment to her husband by burning him. [1]
The Judge who heard the case, Judge Amanda Yip, QC, spoke with Smith, saying: “You found it difficult to take everything in, but made the connection between what Craig had said the day before he died and what your daughter was telling you. You were understandably very upset. You were described as being livid and fuming at the thought of what had been done to your children.”
Judge Yip then expanded on what she had said: “Killing Mr. Baines also took away any opportunity for the allegations to be tested. That took away his right to a fair trial, bearing in mind that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I have no doubt that this has caused untold pain to Mr. Baines’ children. The allegations are left hanging but unproven…” [2]
Although most people agreed that she had reason to do what she did, the prosecutors also stated that she was the one that ultimately killed her husband.
The prosecutors said: “We cannot and do not say whether these allegations made about Michael Baines are true or not… but that is not the issue for you in this case because the prosecution certainly accept that these allegations were made, and that Corinna Baines believed them to be true at the time that she caused the fatal injuries to Michael.”
Smith admitted that she was angry about the situation and had lost control as a result. It was the planning of the attack that really was the evidence that worked against her. The amount of time it took to boil the water and add the sugar showed it was premeditated.
Mark Rhind, QC, added to the statement, saying: “The prosecution case is that her actions were deliberate and considered, that whilst she would obviously have been very upset and distressed about what she had heard, the evidence will demonstrate that she was in control and acted in anger and to exact vengeance for what she believed that Michael had done. We say that she intended either to kill Michael or to cause him really serious harm and so she is guilty of murder.”
After Smith poured the water over her husband, she went to a neighbor and admitted she had hurt him and may have killed him. It was the neighbor who alerted the police and called paramedics. When they arrived, he told them “I’m badly burned. I’m burned all over. She poured boiling water all over me. I just want to die.”
According to the court, Smith didn’t try to kill her husband intentionally. She even stated in an interview that she accepted what she had done. She said: “I accept that I poured boiling water over Michael with sugar in it. The whole thing is a bit of a blur. Minutes became seconds. I just lost it and was so emotional, I was not acting out of revenge.”
Paul Hughes, a Detective Chief Inspector 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 viscous. It becomes thicker and stickier and sinks into the skin better. It left Michael in agony and rather than call the emergency services she wasted time by going to a house nine doors away to tell a neighbor, who she wasn’t close to, what she had done. Michael was an elderly man who fought for his life after the attack but sadly in the end he passed away.” [3]
Smith stood trial and was sentenced to life in prison. She may be eligible for parole in 12 years.
