A man accused of pouring fuel onto a tabletop heater in a pub which left two cousins with serious burns has been unanimously cleared by a jury. Dale Carter, 30, denied inflicting grievous bodily harm on April and Ashleigh Charlesworth in April 24, 2021 in what his defence barrister described as a “horrible accident”.

The jury at Ipswich Crown Court took an hour to reach unanimous not guilty verdicts for Carter of Earles Colne, Suffolk.

The court has heard that April Charlesworth was celebrating her 28th birthday at the Kings Head pub in Great Cornard, Suffolk. She had been with her cousin Ashleigh Charlesworth and friends when Carter squirted fuel on a tabletop heater with devastating results.

April, a former Colchester Institute student, suffered burns to her neck, hands and face after the fuel bottle exploded. Ashleigh Charlesworth, a former children’s nurse, was put on a ventilator after her airway started to swell, and suffered burns to her chest, face and hands.

The court heard that the night in question was the cousins’ first night out after the Covid lockdown and they and the rest of the group were sitting at tables in the pub car park.

Defending, Michael Epstein accused the prosecution of “clutching at straws” by claiming his client was criminally responsible for what happened.

In his speech to the jury, prosecution counsel Dingle Clark, claimed Carter was a “fully functioning adult ” and must have known there was a risk of causing some injury by squirting fuel on to the heater in the way he did.

He said the prosecution accepted that Carter hadn’t set out to deliberately cause the victims’ injuries but had acted recklessly.

“When he was putting the fuel on that fire he must have known there was a risk. It would be a nonsense to suggest he didn’t,” added Mr Clark.

It was a cold evening and April’s brother Sam Charlesworth had gone to their mother’s home nearby and returned with a tabletop heater and a bottle of ethanol.

He lit the heater and allegedly put the bottle of fuel in a bag before leaving the area where everyone was sitting for a short while.

When he returned he heard screaming and saw flames on the table and became aware that his sister and cousin were badly injured.

Following the trial, Mr Dale did not wish to comment.