Steven Craig

She suffered chronic burns when her violent ex-partner set her alight but incredibly Jacqueline Kirk was not bitter and " got on with life" a friend said.

Ms Kirk was left severely disfigured in The Attack by Steven Craig in 1998.

Craig, a violent fantasist, had acted out a torture scene from The Film Reservoir Dogs , a court heard.

Ms Kirk died in August 2019 from a ruptured diaphragm aged 61. Craig.

The Deep scars to her chest and abdomen prevented The Skin from stretching to accommodate the swelling of her intestines, doctors concluded.

Craig, 58, spent More Than 15 years in jail after being convicted of causing grievous Bodily Harm with intent in 2000.

Following Ms Kirk's death, he was tried for her murder at Bristol Crown Court .

A jury found him guilty on Friday after less than six hours of deliberation. He is due to be sentenced on 9 November.

Mother-of-two and grandmother-of-three, Ms Kirk spent Nine Months in hospital following The Attack and had to breathe through a plastic tube inserted into her trachea.

She also underwent multiple skin grafts and other operations to reconstruct her face.

Her Daughter , Sonna, said it was her mother's stubbornness and sense of humour that got her through.

" She was strong willed, strong minded, very funny, very kind of witty, a dark humour, " She Said .

" People who hadn't met her would be taken off guard because they wouldn't expect that wittiness to come out of my mum.

" She always had an opinion on something. "

But Sonna said her mother often Found Things " very hard because She couldn't get people to understand what She was saying".

" Because of the tracheostomy it made it very hard for her to be heard, but She still made a big point of making her voice heard as much as She could. "

Ms Kirk loved being out in nature and as soon as She was well enough asked to be taken to The Hospital grounds, Sonna said.

" She loved being outdoors, and it was very hard being outdoors at first because people would stare at her, people would look at her in disgust, people would cross The Road from her, " She remembered.

But getting a puppy, Molly, transformed her mother's life, because it forced her to Get Out an about.

" She got to know other dog walkers, She gained her confidence and She got to go out on walks and surround herself by nature, " She Said .

Ms Kirk developed a passion for nature photography, and would walk for miles with Molly and her camera.

" That was her way of enjoying her art, and that was her way of Getting Out and about and enjoying The Beauty of The World around her, " Sonna said.

Lesley Simmons, who lived Next Door to Ms Kirk in The Village of Bathford for several years following The Attack , said She never came across as " bitter".

" She was very brave, very resilient and just got on with life, She didn't complain, " She Said .

" She didn't strike me as bitter or anything like that, maybe She felt it, but She didn't show it. "

Mrs Simmons made telephone calls on behalf of Ms Kirk because people struggled to understand her on The Phone because of her injuries.

The two of them would often go out for coffee or lunch, She Said .

" She was able to see the funny side in life, not so much about her own situation, but things that happen in life.

" I think that's what got her through the awful trauma.

" She was a wonderful human being to cope with what She coped with, very brave and a wonderful sense of humour, that's how I think I would sum her up, " She added.

Not even the impending release of her attacker seemed to phase her friend.

In a conversation they had about whether Ms Kirk was apprehensive about him Coming Out of prison, Ms Kirk told her friend: " No, what can he do to me that he hasn't already done? "

Ali Vowles, BBC Points West reporter who interviewed Jacqueline Kirk in 2002

I don't think I will ever forget meeting Jacqueline Kirk.

Almost Four Years After Her horrific attack Jackie, as She asked to be called, agreed to meet me.

She Said for the First Time She felt emotionally strong enough to tell Her Story .

She was a Tiny Woman but you couldn't miss her huge brimmed hat that helped cover her burnt scalp and the scars that dominated her face.

Jackie spoke of hearing the " terrible glug, glug, glug of the petrol" the horrendous smell And Then Looking Down to see herself In Flames .

I had to listen really hard to hear her softly spoken words - because to speak, She had to constantly block The Hole in her tracheotomy.

I remember feeling terrible because my eyes kept being drawn to her throat and I could see the effort it took to speak.

Jackie told me that She felt She was serving a Life Sentence because of The Way She looked and The Way people stared and pointed.

I'll never forget her words " They don't see me…I feel so cut off from society, life and everything".

But Despite Everything She was brave and incredibly resilient.

Although She could never work again and had to fight to get Compensation - She didn't seem to feel sorry for herself.

We talked about her financial difficulties, but ended our conversation with her saying: " What's money? Having not a penny but (being) physically ok - I would be so happy. "

During Craig's trial for grievous Bodily Harm , Ms Kirk revealed that in the Nine Months She spent in hospital, She was too terrified to tell police what he had done to her.

Her ex was a heroin and amphetamine user, as well as a heavy drinker, and was violent towards her during their four-year relationship.

He was fascinated by a scene from The Film Reservoir Dogs in which a Police Officer is tied to a chair and tortured before being doused in petrol, Ms Kirk said.

Craig would watch The Film repeatedly and often act out the different characters' storylines, She Said .

On The Day of The Attack , the pair had travelled to Weston-super-Mare from their home in Bath following an argument.

Craig had told Ms Kirk they needed to Get Out of town because he had told someone called " Big Charlie" to kill her and he could not stop him.

While sitting in a Car Park in their Volkswagen, Craig made her pass him a bottle from the back seat before pouring the petrol it contained all over her.

After She got out of The Car , Craig offered her a lit cigarette, telling her if She didn't take it, he would throw it at her.

" He Said : 'Take it or I'll throw it at you, see how calm your nerves are now', " Ms Kirk said.

She described being engulfed In Flames before losing consciousness.

Following Craig's conviction for murder, Det Ch Insp Mark Almond said it had been important to his team to get justice for Ms Kirk " now She no longer has a voice".

" It was an incredibly callous and nasty attack, " He Said .

" Jackie's family have had To Live through this for over 20 years, so it's really important to have this conviction which means they finally have some peace. "

Source of news: bbc.com