VICTIM PLEA

Scots ex-model set on fire by twisted thug in murder bid urges Parole Board not to release him early

AN ex-model set on fire by a twisted thug who tried to murder her has urged the Scots Parole Board not to grant him early release.

Anne Crossan, 51, who was scarred for life in the shocking attack, believes twisted Stewart Watson should remain behind bars.

Watson was convicted of attempted murder at the High Court in Livingston in 2016, for the attack carried out on September 4, 2015.

He was given eight-and-a-half-years in jail for the sick attack.

Watson, now aged 41, had threatened to kill Anne after she told her pal, who he was dating, that the thug had tested positive for HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

Two months later she was subjected to the horrific murder bid at her home when Watson threw lighter fluid over her.

Speaking to the Daily Record about his possible release, Anne said: “He tried to kill me in one of the most cowardly and brutal ways you can kill someone, burning me alive.

“I want him to spend as much of that sentence in jail as possible to give me peace of mind. I won’t feel safe when he is out. I’ll be looking over my shoulder all the time.

“Surely the justice system owes victims of such brutal crimes an ­obligation at the very least to make the people who hurt them stay in prison for as long as the sentence allows?”

Reliving her horrific ordeal, she said: “I was screaming in pain and shock. He swore at me and turned and walked away.

“I ran inside screaming and plunged my head, which was ablaze, into the bath. Thank God the bath had been full or I might have been dead.

“My hair was coming out in clumps all over the floor and coffee table as I dialled 999.

“I was in agony and a state of total fear and panic.”

In her letter to the Parole Board, Anne wrote: “‘I’m going to murder you, you fat cow.’ I’ll never forget those words.

“It’s what Stewart John Watson said to me two months before the night he walked up to my front door holding a can of lighter fluid and a lighter, and then set me on fire.

“His attempt on my life left me with around 30 per cent of my body covered in third degree burns, around my face and shoulder.

“I was in an induced coma for two weeks thereafter and remained in hospital for a further four weeks. The physical pain I went through was excruciating.

“I believe beyond any doubt that his intentions now are the very same as the night he tried to kill me.

“For these reasons, I vehemently disagree with any decision or notion that Stewart John Watson be released early.

“And I would absolutely wish to make separate representations should he be considered for home detention curfew.”