Sheffield father poured petrol over daughter and tried to set her on fire

A father who poured a flammable liquid over his daughter and tried to ignite it with a broken lighter has been jailed for over nine years.
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Sheffield Crown Court heard on August 9 how Mark Brooks, aged 61, of Shirecliffe Road, in Shirecliffe, Sheffield, had gone to see his daughter after a dispute concerning her new boyfriend and he poured the flammable liquid over her clothes and tried to ignite a lighter but fortunately it would not light.

The judge – Recorder Matthew Happold – told Brooks: “You poured liquid from a bottle onto her and took out a lighter and attempted to set it alight on two occasions.

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Pictured is Mark Brooks, aged 61, of Shirecliffe Road, at Shirecliffe, Sheffield, who was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to nine years and six months of custody after he pleaded guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to his daughter and to threatening to kill her.Pictured is Mark Brooks, aged 61, of Shirecliffe Road, at Shirecliffe, Sheffield, who was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to nine years and six months of custody after he pleaded guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to his daughter and to threatening to kill her.
Pictured is Mark Brooks, aged 61, of Shirecliffe Road, at Shirecliffe, Sheffield, who was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to nine years and six months of custody after he pleaded guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to his daughter and to threatening to kill her.
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"You hit and kicked her and threatened to kill her and then she took refuge in a neighbour’s flat and you threatened to set that front door alight.”

Prosecuting barrister Eleanor Mitten said Brooks and his daughter had only recently been brought together after he had not played any part in her childhood.

Ms Mitten added that Brooks, who had also recently suffered the loss of his wife to cancer, had disapproved of his daughter’s new boyfriend and had become troubled when she moved in with him.

Brooks visited his daughter’s flat complex with a friend who was armed with a stick, according to Ms Mitten, and they followed the defendant’s daughter into the property where the defendant attacked and threatened her.

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Brooks also took a bottle from his pocket and squeezed the flammable contents over his daughter and threatened to set fire to her and he took a lighter from his pocket and tried to set fire to her clothes, according to Ms Mitten.

Ms Mitten said: “The defendant attempted to use the lighter to light the liquid on her but it would not catch.”

‘It does seem to me that it was only luck that prevented you setting your daughter alight’

The defendant’s daughter took refuge in a neighbour’s flat and Brooks threatened to set the door alight, according to Recorder Happold.

Recorder Happold said: “It does seem to me that it was only luck that prevented you setting your daughter alight rather than any action of your own.”

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The court heard that an expert found the bottle had contained a mixture of petrol and another flammable liquid.

Brooks told police he had been looking for his daughter’s boyfriend and had wanted his daughter to come home and he had taken twice the dosage of diazepam which had made him feel like “King Kong”.

The defendant, who has 39 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill and to attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm after the incident on December 15, 2021.

Defence barrister Ian Goldsack said: “This is in many ways a sad case and a very unusual set of circumstances that have resulted in Mr Brooks being on remand for a significant time since late last year.”

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Mr Goldsack added Brooks’ daughter had come back into his life at the beginning of 2021 and he had been concerned after she became involved with a new boyfriend who had a history of domestic violence and an involvement with drug-dealing.

Recorder Happold sentenced Brooks to nine years and six months of custody and made him subject to an indefinite restraining order to protect his daughter.