Berlinah Wallace: Father of acid victim who took own life says attacker should die in jail
Assault was ‘an act of pure evil’, says judge
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The father of a man who died by euthanasia after his former partner threw sulphuric acid on him has hit out at the prison sentence handed to Berlinah Wallace as “not long enough”.
Wallace was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday, after being acquitted of murder but found guilty of throwing a corrosive substance with intent following a month-long trial.
Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, sentencing, said the attack was “an act of pure evil”.
Wallace threw the liquid over engineer Mark van Dongen as he slept at her flat in Westbury Park, Bristol, in September 2015, and laughed as she told him: “If I can’t have you, no one else can.”
The 29-year-old was in a coma for four months, and suffered extensive burns to his body. He was left blind in one eye, paralysed from the neck down and had to have his lower left leg amputated.
He died by euthanasia at a hospital in Belgium on 2 January last year.
Mr Van Dongen’s father, Kees van Dongen, told reporters after the hearing that the sentence was “too little because we as a family have been sentenced to life.”
He added: ”I never knew that she was like this and it turns out that she really pulled the wool over our eyes from day one.
“The minimum term of 12 years isn’t long enough. I hope that she messes up inside prison and doesn’t become eligible for parole.”
He has said he wanted Wallace to be inside for the rest of her life.
The judge told Wallace: “Having carried out this horrific attack you then told lie after lie.
“When interviewed by the police you sought to place the blame upon Mark van Dongen, falsely alleging that he had poured the acid into the glass on your bedside table intending that you should drink it.
“It was an account which you gave in September 2015 and maintained throughout this trial.
“Not only did you make this wholly false accusation to the police and throughout your trial, you further sought to destroy the name and character of Mark van Dongen, alleging that he was the abuser in your relationship.
“Mark van Dongen is no longer alive. He was unable to defend himself against any of your accusations.”
However, the judge said she accepted the evidence of Mr van Dongen’s colleagues and father, who said the engineer was scared of Wallace.
“He was right to be so because he had some idea of what you were capable of,” she told Wallace, 48, who is South African.
Additional reporting by PA