Man jailed for murdering Ellen Marshall, who died two years after he set on fire

A man whose partner died two years after he poured petrol over her and set her on fire has been jailed for life.

Mother-of-four Ellen Marshall, who was aged 43 when she died, suffered 80% full-thickness burns to her torso, face, and limbs which required skin grafts, after Leigh Pateman doused her and set her alight during an argument in April 2021.

Ms Marshall, who was sitting in a chair at her home in Skegness when she was attacked, sustained “profoundly serious, life-altering injuries” which caused her death in March 2023.

Pateman, 45, was previously sentenced to 17 years and 10 months in prison for grievous bodily harm with intent, but admitted murder last month.

He was jailed for a minimum term of 23 years and 145 days at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday where he appeared via video link from HMP Garth.

Pateman told police he was ‘messing about’

Emergency services were called to their property in Firbeck Avenue on the evening of 22 April 2021 where Pateman had poured petrol into Ms Marshall’s lap and set fire to her as they argued.

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 entering the property was hit by “black smoke” before they heard Ms Marshall making a “gurgling” sound on the floor, the court was told.

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

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She also lost fingers and had limited movement in the years following the attack and was given a less than 50% chance of survival.

Her cause of death was recorded as pneumonia and the long-term consequence of burns, and Ms Knight told the court she died as “a direct consequence of the burns she sustained”.

Pateman, who had mixed personality disorder traits, had an alcohol dependence from the age of nine or 10 and regularly used drugs.

A witness who lived in 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 in a victim impact statement her mother “lost all her independence. Her physical appearance changed so much she was unrecognisable. Eventually, her body just could not take it anymore”.

Judge Hirst told Patemen previous threats to kill Ms Marshall meant the attack was “not a sudden outburst of temper in an otherwise healthy relationship”.

Detective Inspector Andy McWatt of Lincolnshire Police called it “a truly shocking and barbaric attack.”