A son left his mum screaming in pain after pouring a jug of boiling water mixed with sugar over her in a horrific attack.
Kieran Gillan bore a grudge against his mum after he ended up in care from the age of eight. After trying to rebuild his relationship with both parents, he ended up living with his dad and they were getting on well.
But when his mum moved in, things went downhill and Gillan's bitterness over his childhood soared. On the morning of November 24 last year, he "felt a rush of sudden anger" against his mum and went to the bedroom she shared with his dad and assaulted her by punching her several times in the face, causing black eyes, a bleeding lip and a mark to her nose.
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Then, around lunchtime, he filled a jug with boiling water and sugar, donned waterproof clothing, went back to her room and threw the burning concoction over her. She screamed in pain and was left with "ugly burns" to her face, neck, ear and chest. The court heard Gillan told his mum: "You scarred me and I'm going to scar you."
Miss Harrison was too afraid to report it to police or seek medical help initially and hid when two officers attended and only when seven officers came and arrested him on another occasion did she come out.
The court heard the burns were superficial and have healed well but she has been left traumatised. In a victim impact statement, she said: "He has always blamed me for going into care at eight years old and blamed me more than his dad. We reconnected when he was 18 and we were ok but he often commented about his time in care and how bad it was for him and blamed me.
"I'm shocked and upset by what he did. It was bad enough anyone could do this but the fact it was my own son makes it much worse. It was totally unprovoked and over the top and there's no excuse for what he did - I think he needs help for his anger and aggression.
"I want nothing more to do with him. I'm frightened of him and couldn't trust him not to do something like this to me again or even to kill me. I believe he is capable of this with me."
She added that she is self-conscious about her scars and is worried that when he is released he will "finish what he started". Miss Harrison said: "I'm numb to even think he could do what he did.
"He seems to hate me. I was trying very hard to build a relationship with him."
Gillan, 25, of Stanhope Road, South Shields, who has previous convictions for assaulting former partners, pleaded guilty to GBH with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. At Newcastle Crown Court, he was jailed for four years and eight months, with an extended licence period of a further two years and four months.
Gavin Doig, defending, said: "He reacted, as he knows, in an appalling way for which he deserves punishment."
Gillan wrote a letter to the court in which he expressed "deep regret". He said he had a great relationship with his father and it meant the world to him that they were getting on. He added: "After my mother arrived I couldn't cope, it seemed like I was crying non stop."
He said he was reintroduced to his parents arguing next door and that after months of pleading for her to get a place of her own "I finally broke and committed this awful crime".
Gillan added: "None of this justifies the violence I used. I've lost my parents, they have been taken away from me all over again."
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