Acid attacker who left ex-lover in such pain he took his own life is jailed for life for 'act of pure evil'

A fashion student who poured sulphuric acid over her former partner's face after he left her for another woman - leaving him in such pain he took his own life - has been jailed for life.

A judge told Berlinah Wallace, 48, she carried out "an act of pure evil" as he sentenced her to at least 12 years.

She had bought a bottle of 98 per cent concentration sulphuric acid and viewed 82 websites about it - including post-mortem images - after Mark van Dongen said their relationship was over.

Wallace threw the liquid over the engineer as he slept in bed at her flat in Bristol, in September 2015, and laughed as she told him: "If I can't have you, no one else can."

The 29-year-old was left in a coma for four months, suffered extensive burns to his body, was left blind in one eye, paralysed from the neck down and had to have his lower left leg amputated. He died by euthanasia at a hospital in Belgium on January 2 2017.

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, who jailed Wallace for life with a minimum term of 12 years at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday, told her: "Your intention was to burn, disfigure and disable Mark van Dongen so that he would not be attractive to any other woman. It was an act of pure evil."

The judge told Wallace: "Having carried out this horrific attack you then told lie after lie.

"When interviewed by the police you sought to place the blame upon Mark van Dongen, falsely alleging that he had poured the acid into the glass on your bedside table intending that you should drink it.

"It was an account which you gave in September 2015 and maintained throughout this trial. Not only did you make this wholly false accusation to the police and throughout your trial, you further sought to destroy the name and character of Mark van Dongen, alleging that he was the abuser in your relationship."

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies added: "Mark van Dongen is no longer alive. He was unable to defend himself against any of your accusations."

However, the judge said she accepted the evidence of Mr van Dongen's colleagues and father, who said the engineer was scared of Wallace.

"He was right to be so because he had some idea of what you were capable of," she told Wallace.

Wallace was acquitted of murder, but convicted of throwing a corrosive substance with intent following a four-week trial.

Father of engineer driven to euthanasia after acid attack condemns sentence as 'too little'

Speaking outside court, Mr van Dongen's father, Kees van Dongen, said the 12-year minimum term set by the judge - which Wallace must serve before being considered for release - was "too little".

"I'm very pleased that she is going to be locked up for 12 years but really it is too little because we as a family have been sentenced to life," he said.

"I never knew that she was like this and it turns out that she really pulled the wool over our eyes from day one. The minimum term of 12 years isn't long enough. I hope that she messes up inside prison and doesn't become eligible for parole."

Mr van Dongen paid tribute to his son as "my mirror image" and said the attack had "completely ruined" his family.