A Leeds woman has been sentenced to a community order after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent by hurling a kettle of boiling water at her disabled next-door neighbour as the victim walked her grandson to school.
CCTV footage of the February 6 incident in Morley, Leeds, shows 56-year-old Ina Priestly approach 68-year-old Susan Varley at about 8 a.m. and pour the contents of a kettle over her face before walking back into her house. Varley fell to the ground screaming and was treated for serious burns to her scalp, forehead, left cheek and ear, and the back of her neck. Her eyesight was not lost because she was wearing glasses at the time.
Varley, who is disabled, had been walking her four-year-old grandson, who avoided scalding because his coat hood was up. Her husband, Stuart, 76, ran outside after hearing her screams and called ambulance and police services. Varley was taken first to Leeds General Infirmary and, three days later, went to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield for surgical treatment of blisters that formed on her face and scalp.
Donna, Varley’s 35-year-old daughter, said her mother remains physically and mentally scarred by the attack. “My mum is now a shell of the person she once was,” Donna said. “She used to be a sociable person, now she hardly goes out. She has flashbacks to what happened.” Donna told reporters that Varley had complained of repeated problems with the neighbour over two decades, including threats, damage to her garden and nails allegedly placed on the driveway.
Priestly initially appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on March 10 where she pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody. A trial had been set to begin on Aug. 5, but she changed her plea to guilty on the day the trial was due to start. A judge at Leeds Crown Court imposed a two-year community order requiring Priestly to comply with up to 25 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions, handed down a £114 victim surcharge and issued an indefinite restraining order prohibiting direct or indirect contact with Varley.
Police arrested Priestly on the day of the assault. Prosecutors said the attack caused severe pain and lasting harm; medical staff treated blistering and applied dressings and surgical removal of damaged tissue to reduce infection risk. Court records list a single count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent as the offence to which Priestly pleaded guilty.
Neighbours and family described a long-running dispute between the two households, but court reporting indicates the conviction turned on the deliberate nature of the attack captured on CCTV and corroborated by witness accounts. Varley’s family said she was discharged from hospital but continued to receive outpatient care for her injuries and psychological trauma. The restraining order is designed to prevent further contact between the two women while the rehabilitation requirement aims to address offending behaviour through structured sessions ordered by the court.