Jealous woman who doused sulphuric acid on her ex jailed for life

By Mirror | 5yrs ago | 11 min read

A fashion student who threw sulphuric acid over her sleeping ex-boyfriend who later died by euthanasia has been locked up for life.

Berlinah Wallace, 48, was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years behind bars for the "act of pure evil" at Bristol Crown Court this morning.

A judge said her intention was to "burn, disfigure and disable" Mark van Dongen, 29, so he "would not be attractive to any other woman".

Wallace had purchased a litre of 98 per cent concentrated sulphuric acid after meticulously researching the effects of the substance.

She then poured the liquid over her former partner's face, before sitting on the sofa and calling a friend as he screamed in pain.

Berlinah Wallace, 48, was found not guilty of murder but convicted of throwing a corrosive substance with intent

She later lied to police, falsely alleging that Mr van Dongen had poured the acid into the glass on her bedside table intending that she should drink it.

Wallace had been accused of killing her ex-boyfriend by leaving him with such catastrophic injuries that he chose to end his life at a clinic in Belgium.

Last week, she was acquitted of his murder - but found guilty of throwing a corrosive substance with intent.

And today, she was jailed for at least a dozen years.

Sentencing Wallace, Mrs Justice Nicola Davies told the South African: "Your intention was to burn, disfigure and disable Mark van Dongen so that he would not be attractive to any other woman.

"It was an act of pure evil."

Wallace had been found guilty of throwing acid at Mr van Dongen as he slept in bed at her Bristol flat following a four-week trial.

The shocking photo, released by police last week, shows how the acid burnt the white bedsheets black

As the liquid burnt her former partner, causing "excruciating pain", she did "nothing to help him". Instead of calling an ambulance, she sat on the sofa in her living room and phoned a pal.

"In agony, Mark ran into the road where neighbours tried their best to help and called the emergency services," the judge told Wallace today.

"Others heard his painful screams, as you must have done, still you chose to ignore his screams. Nothing better demonstrates your malicious and callous intention than your refusal to provide any help even when Mark was screaming in pain."

She added: "Your conduct can properly be described as sadistic."

The court had heard that Wallace attacked Mr van Dongen at her home in Westbury Park after he left her for another woman.

She laughed as she told him: "If I can't have you, no-one else can."

Wallace had claimed she thought she was throwing a glass of water over the engineer as he lay in bed at the flat in September 2015.

Mr van Dongen was left paralysed, scarred, had his lower left leg amputated and lost the sight in his left eye, as well as most of the sight in his right eye, following the incident.

He died abroad by euthanasia in January last year.

In a video message to Wallace a day before he chose to end his life, he said the sight of his injuries would stay on her conscience "forever".

He called his assailant "evil" and told her: "This is because of you."

This morning, Judge Davies told Wallace: "I do not sentence you for fact that as a result of his injuries Mark van Dongen chose to take his own life.

"I do sentence you for the harm you inflicted, and for the 15 months of acute physical and psychological suffering of Mark van Dongen. You then told lie upon lie, seeking to put them blame on Mark van Dongen.

"You alleged he had subjected you to physical abuse and had poured the acid into a glass on your bedside table for you to drink it.

"Mark van Dongen is no longer alive.

"He is unable to defend himself against your accusations.

"You have admitted that, when angry, you are capable of using violence. Anger is a part of your character, and you know that."

The court heard the victim's burns covered two-thirds of his face and a large percentage of his upper chest, arms and upper thighs.

One hospital consultant said there had been no equivalent patient with similar extensive injuries following a chemical attack.

The judge told the court Mr van Dongen spent 11 months in intensive care and underwent a number of operations, including the amputation of his left leg "because of the restriction of the blood supply".

He also lost the sight in his left eye and was on the strongest pain relief - which caused "difficult" side-effects for him.

Moments after the acid attack, a 999 call had been made by a Good Samaritan neighbour who came to Mr van Dongen’s aid.

In the background of the call, the victim's agonised shouts could be heard and he said: “Somebody threw acid…somebody threw acid.”

"This is because of you": Acid attack victim's first words to ex-girlfriend who left him with catastrophic injuries

The neighbour told the operator: “Somebody threw acid over his face.”

Police last week released shocking images of the bedroom where Mr van Dongen was attacked in the early hours of September 23, 2015.

They showed the white bedsheets burnt black by the acid.

Dutch-born Mr van Dongen helped secure Wallace's conviction from beyond the grave. He was so left seriously injured that it was nearly 10 months before he was able to tell cops what happened.

Speaking from his bed in Bristol's Southmead Hospital in July 2016, Mr van Dongen told officers about the difficulties he and Wallace had in their relationship.

He described how the defendant would injure herself and threaten to claim that he had done it. He said he had gone to Wallace's flat because he felt sorry for her and because she had his passport.

He told police he awoke at around 3am to hear Wallace laugh and tell him, "If I can't have you, no-one else can", before hurling the acid.

In the prosecution's closing speech, Adam Vaitilingam QC had told the jury that Wallace had become "jealous and vindictive" when her five-year relationship with Mr van Dongen came to an end.

Mr van Dongen suffered 15 months of pain before he died by euthanasia

He said: "In her darker moments, she bought a bottle of sulphuric acid. She removed the label and she read up about attacks with sulphuric acid.

"Mr van Dongen told people that she had a violent temper and he told people he was scared of her."

Counselling staff at the University of the West of England, where Wallace had studied fashion, told of her problems with controlling emotions.

In one consultation, Wallace was noted to have described "an adrenaline rise when someone says the wrong thing and she feels like she could destroy everything around her".

Mr Vaitilingam told the jury: "That's what happened in this case. In the early hours of September 23, Mr van Dongen did say the wrong thing.

"He told her that the relationship was over and she destroyed him. She wanted to be sure that he could never have another relationship again."

Mr van Dongen had moved in with new girlfriend Violet Farquharson, 46, but returned to stay with Wallace on September 22.

Neighbours dialled 999 after Mr van Dongen, clad only in boxer shorts, ran into the street screaming in agony at about 3am the following day.

Wallace had deleted more than 80 websites from her browsing history for the weeks leading up to the incident, with "half or more" relating to acid attacks.

"She was fascinated by those sites about people getting attacked with acid," Mr Vaitilingam told the jury.

He added: "It is no coincidence that the person who was so interested in acid attacks was about to carry out one of her own."

Wallace denied murdering Mr van Dongen, as well as throwing a corrosive substance with intent.

She claimed her former partner had tried to trick her into drinking the acid by placing it in a water glass by her bed.

She may have come up with this defence after reading about a court case of a man who allegedly tricked his partner in that way, Mr Vaitilingam said.

The prosecutor described the 15 months between the alleged attack and Mr van Dongen, who suffered 25 per cent burns, undergoing euthanasia as "a long, slow and agonising process".

Richard Smith QC, representing Wallace, said Mr van Dongen had not been able to tell the truth about what happened without implicating himself.

"He has inflicted it on himself because he filled the glass," he told the jury.

He said Mr van Dongen lied repeatedly, played "mind games" with Wallace and had been violent towards her.

Mr Smith described the case as "extraordinarily unusual" due to his client facing a murder charge following euthanasia.

"The person who actually took the life of Mr van Dongen is an unnamed, unidentified doctor in Belgium," he told the jury.

Mr Smith said the prosecution case that Wallace was responsible for murder is "fundamentally an incorrect approach".

The doctor's act in inserting a catheter into Mr van Dongen's heart "intervened and breaks her responsibility", he said.

Jurors had retired to consider their verdicts on Monday last week.

Judge Davies had told the 10 men and two women at the time: "You must reach, if you can, a unanimous verdict.

"As you know, the law allows me in certain circumstances to accept a verdict which is not the verdict of you all.

"Those circumstances have not arisen, so when you retire I ask you to reach a verdict on which each of you is agreed."

The unanimous verdict was delivered last Thursday afternoon following 15 hours and 30 minutes of deliberations.

In an audio clip obtained by the BBC, Mr van Dongen recalled the moment he was attacked while lying in hospital the day before he chose to end his life.

Addressing his former partner, he said: "I hope you can see the way I look now. This is because of you. I will be a thing upon your conscience for now and forever.

"You stood at the end of my bed and you said: 'If I can't have you no-one can'.

"And then you laughed, you evil woman, you laughed. And you threw sulphuric acid over me."

Speaking previously outside Bristol Crown Court, Mr van Dongen's father Cornelius shook as he paid an emotional tribute to his son.

"Mark was so brave when confronted with the hellish pain and disabilities inflicted upon him but eventually it became too much for him to bear," he said, speaking through a Dutch interpreter.

"He died in dignity and will live on in the hearts of his family and friends. The court process was a difficult and emotional experience."

Detective Inspector Paul Catton of Avon and Somerset Police said: "Mark van Dongen suffered the most inconceivable pain imaginable following what was a cowardly attack borne out of jealousy.

"He went from being a healthy young man with his whole life ahead of him to having extensive and repeated surgery on the most hideous injuries just to keep him alive.

"In the end, his pain was so devastating, so catastrophic, he sought the assistance of doctors to help him die.

"While the jury has concluded Wallace's actions did not amount to murder, we felt it was the right thing to do to ask them to consider the charge based on the evidence."

Following today's sentencing, Det Insp Catton said: "This was an extremely unusual and challenging case and one which affected a great number of people.

Wallace claimed Mr van Dongen had tried to trick her into drinking the acid (Image: Elizabeth Cook/PA)

“Today’s sentence, which I believe is the first life sentence handed to someone involved in an acid attack, reflects the gravity of the crime Wallace committed, her refusal to accept responsibility and the horrendous consequences her actions had.

“Nothing will ever fill the void left by Mark’s death but I hope this result will bring some comfort to his family and loved ones.”

A Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) will now look at the circumstances which led up to Mr van Dongen's death.

The victim's injuries were so severe that Det Insp Catton didn't show photos of them to the members of his investigation team.

The officer kept the images under lock and key.

Before last Thursday's outcome, Mr van Dongen's younger brother, Bartje, told ITV News that the family had been torn apart over the incident.

He said: "I think that night he lost everything he can lose. If you burn you can do nothing anymore. Lots of pain every day ... for what you want to live?"

Bartje said his grief-stricken father attended every day of the trial and looked "30 years older".

He added: "My father lost everything."

Dad Cornelius described Wallace as "the devil personified", but Bartje had nothing to say about her.

He said before she was cleared of murder: "If she got [a] life sentence, I will be happy but if she got five years it doesn't matter.

"Mark will never be back."

Acid attack victim's agonising screams heard in harrowing 999 call

Mr van Dongen’s agonising shouts can be heard in the background of a 999 call made by a Good Samaritan who went to his aid.

Moments after he was doused in acid by Wallace, the victim ran out on to the street in just his boxer shorts and screamed for help.

In the recording, the neighbour who called the emergency services can be heard telling the call-handler about the harrowing scene.

He told the operator: “I’m on Berkeley Road, in Westbury Park.

“At the very bottom of the road, I heard shouting in my garden, there is a gentleman shouting for help.”

Wailing could be heard in the background, while the man making the phone call tells Mr van Dongen: “It’s OK.”

The neighbour continued: “Basically I was in my garden having a cigarette I heard a gentleman shouting from a distance away.

“I went out into my road to investigate but basically he was just shouting for help.”

The call-handler asked him to speak to Mr van Dongen and find out what had happened.

The neighbour said: “I’m not sure, excuse me, hello, hello? What’s happened?”

Distraught Mr van Dongen could be heard saying: “Somebody threw acid…somebody threw acid...”

The neighbour continued: “Somebody threw acid over his face.”

He then apparently turned to Mr van Dongen and asked: “Who did this to you?”

The victim’s voice rose in pitch as he said: “My ex. My ex.”

He became hysterical when asked if she was nearby, and said: “I don’t know.”

Mr van Dongen's brother, Bartje, has launched a JustGiving page to provide financial support to their father Cornelius.

He told ITV News that their dad "lost his house" and "lost his money" while travelling back and forth and caring for his son.

Bartje wrote of his brother on the page: "The continuous itching of his scars drove him out of his mind. Also, the acid had done serious harm to his bones, which put him through hellish pain."