Thomas Rainey: Man who murdered spouse by dousing her in petrol and setting her on fireplace in her automobile is jailed for all times
A husband brutally murdered his spouse by dousing her in petrol and setting her alight whereas she sat in her automobile.
Thomas Rainey, 61, threw a bucket of petrol over mother-of-six Katrina Rainey and set fireplace to her as she ready to go away for work.
The 53-year-old, who suffered burns to 90% of her physique within the “horrific” assault, initially survived.
Mrs Rainey was handled on the scene by her youngsters – who tried to cowl her with moist towels.
She survived lengthy sufficient to inform police concerning the nature of the assault, which she claimed was an act of revenge by her husband due to their pending divorce.
Mrs Rainey later died in hospital of her accidents.
Thomas Rainey, of Knockloughrim, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, was sentenced to life in jail on Wednesday after pleading responsible to her homicide.
He should serve a minimal of 18 years in jail earlier than being eligible for launch.
Mr Justice O’Hara, who delivered the sentence at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday, mentioned “given the horror of what he did to his wife it is the least he deserves”.
The court docket heard the incident happened on the household residence in October 2021.
Mrs Rainey was leaving for work and Rainey opened her automobile door, lined her with petrol after which set her on fireplace.
She was unable to get out of the automobile resulting from her seatbelt being fixed, so as an alternative saved “hitting the horn and screaming”.
Despite her severe burns, Mrs Rainey was in a position to relay particulars of the assault to the emergency companies, a few of which was captured on police bodycam.
She informed police that she had been to see a solicitor and that she believed the assault was her husband’s retaliation to the pending divorce.
She was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, the place she later died of her accidents.
Rainey initially denied being the attacker, and the court docket heard that he steered “in some oblique way” that the fireplace could have been Mrs Rainey’s “own fault” for “keeping petrol in the car”.
The court docket heard that, after his arrest, Rainey took half in a psychological well being evaluation, which discovered he was affected by a average depressive dysfunction.
The decide was additionally informed that the couple’s six-year-old daughter had died in an accident on their farm a variety of years in the past, which Rainey felt some degree of private accountability for.
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However, the court docket dominated the dysfunction was not so extreme as to stop him from exercising self-control or understanding his actions.
Speaking outdoors Belfast Crown Court following the sentencing, Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) Detective Inspector Hazel Miller mentioned Mrs Rainey died a “horrific death”.
She mentioned Mrs Rainey was a “caring and loving mother”, and that her youngsters and wider household circle had skilled “unimaginable grief and anguish”.
“They are still trying to come to terms with losing their loved one in such horrific circumstances,” she mentioned.
“While the sentencing signifies the end of the judicial process, I know that Katrina’s family will be walking away with the heaviest of hearts. My thoughts remain firmly with them,” she added.