A WOMAN died 21 years after her ex doused her in petrol and set her alight in a car park, a court heard.
Steven Paul Craig, 57, was convicted of GBH with intent against Jacqueline Kirk two years after the horror in 1998.
She survived the attack but suffered 35 per cent burns to her body and severe ongoing medical problems.
In 2019, Jacqueline died in hospital aged 62 after her diaphragm ruptured.
Craig is now on trial for murder after prosecutors argued the injuries he caused contributed to her death.
Bristol Crown Court was told the burns and scarring on her body meant her skin could not stretch far enough to accommodate the swelling of her intestines.
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Doctors also felt Jacqueline was too "frail" to operate on to repair the diaphragm and save her life,jurors heard.
Prosecutor Richard Smith said: "In 1998, this defendant attacked a woman by pouring petrol over her and setting her alight with a flame.
"The injuries inflicted were of great significance as a result of his actions.
"However, at that time the victim survived. As a result, the defendant was tried and punished for what he had then done.
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"But the story does not end there.
"Many years later, the injured woman died as a result in part of the injuries that this defendant had inflicted on this victim.
"Therefore, we say that good sense and the law says that this defendant should be accountable for the full consequences of what he did.
"The prosecution say that this defendant can be described as having murdered the victim."
The court was told Craig and Jacqueline had been together for around three to four years at the time of the attack.
On 18 April 1998, he poured petrol over her and set her alight in a car park in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset.
Jacqueline was rushed to hospital but suffered burns to her neck, chest, hands, torso, upper thigh and buttocks.
She was also forced to undergo 14 operations – including skin grafts – and was discharged eight months later.
Jurors heard how Craig was convicted and sentenced in 2000.
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Craig, of York, denies one count of murder.
The trial continues.
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