Steven Craig jailed for further 15 years for murdering girlfriend who died 21 years after he set her on fire

A man has been sentenced to a further 15 years in prison – in addition to the 18 he has already served – for setting his partner on fire and causing her death 21 years later.

Steven Craig, 58, covered Jacqueline Kirk in petrol and set her alight in a car park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset in April 1998.

He served more than 18 years in prison for the attack but following her death in August 2019 he was arrested again and charged with her murder. He was found guilty of that charge by a jury at Bristol Crown Court last month.

At sentencing on Thursday, Judge Mrs Justice Stacey described Craig’s conduct as “sadistic” and the attack as “planned and premeditated”, handing him a minimum term of 34 years.

His trial heard that the 1998 attack resulted in 35% burns to Ms Kirk’s body and left her needing 14 operations, including skin grafts and a tracheotomy.

She lived to the age of 61 and was able to see both of her children get married and become a grandmother.

But she died the day after she was admitted to the Royal Bath Hospital in 2019.

Jurors were told scarring to her chest and abdomen meant they were less able to expand when breathing, which resulted in intestinal swelling.

When she fell gravely ill, given her frailty, doctors decided not to operate on her.

Prosecutor Richard Smith KC had told the jury they did not need to find Ms Kirk’s injuries were the main cause of her death – just that the contribution made by them was “more than minimal”.

Craig admitted responsibility for the attack – but not her death.