‘I know I am going to die’: What woman, 35, told police officers after suffering fatal 95% burns when set alight with white spirits ‘by man she rejected’
- Spurned lover Terrence Armer is accused of murder
- Allegedly set Stacey Mackie alight in Kendal, Cumbria
- Court shown footage of night 35-year-old was burned
A woman doused with white spirit and set alight by a spurned admirer told a police officer: ‘I know I am going to die’, a court heard.
Disturbing footage of the night Stacey Mackie, 35, was fatally burned was shown on the first day of the trial of Terrence Armer, 61.
Armer, of Kendal, Cumbria, is accused of murdering Miss Mackie, who died after a fire at the sheltered accommodation where she lived in Crag View, Kendal. The 61-year-old denies murder.
Stacey Mackie, 35, from Cumbria, was allegedly doused in white spirit and set her alight after spurning her admirer Terrence Armer, 61
Prosecutor Mr Timothy Storrie told Carlisle Crown Court that around midnight on January 27, Armer went to the flats and into Miss Mackie’s apartment.
He said: 'Once inside, he poured a bottle of white spirit over Stacey Mackie and set her alight. The effect on her was catastrophic.
‘(The burns) covered 80 to 95 per cent of her body. Injuries of that magnitude are just not survivable.’
The jury was shown a video interview with another resident of Crag View, Ian Raw, who encountered **Armer outside the flats holding a small axe and a plastic carrier bag.
**
Mr Raw rang police after Armer walked past him into the building and upstairs to Miss Mackie’s flat. CCTV footage played in court showed Armer using a screwdriver and the axe to try and break in, before Miss Mackie opened the door to him.
Some minutes later police arrived at the door of the flat, trying to kick and barge their way in before finally using a ram to smash it open. Black smoke pouring into the corridor from the flat was so thick it obscured the view from the camera.
Officers and fire crews were called to the home of Stacey Mackie in Kendal, Cumbria, on January 27. She later died
On the first day of the trial, Carlisle Crown Court was shown disturbing footage of the night Stacey Mackie, 35, was fatally burned.
Footage taken from a camera worn by a police officer showed Miss Mackie sitting in the lobby of the building - her clothes almost entirely burned off and her hair singed.
The court was told as a police officer tries to reassure her, she replied: ‘I know I am going to die.’
**Mr Storrie said the bag Armer was carrying was later found to contain a large knife, a Stanley knife and a roll of tape.
**
Miss Mackie, formerly from the coastal Cumbrian village of Haverigg, told police in the lobby that Armer was her attacker and ‘he had set her alight and she was sure she was going to die’, Mr Storrie said.
Armer and Miss Mackie met last winter while they were both being treated at the ward of a local hospital for mental illness, Mr Storrie said.
Although Miss Mackie’s mental illness meant she had her ‘ups and downs’ she had been well at the time of the alleged attack and there was no indication she was a risk to herself, he said.
He said: ‘Terrence Armer was known to have sought her companionship. He bought her presents and asked her to spend Christmas with him. He attached to the relationship a special significance she did not share.’
After the pair fell out Armer sent Miss Mackie messages declaring his love for her, but these became more abusive in the run-up to the attack, said Mr Storrie.
When he was interviewed by police, Armer denied attacking Miss Mackie.
He said she had been rolling a cigarette while he left her to go to the toilet and was already alight when he came out.
However, Mr Storrie said an identical bottle of white spirit to the one found on the sofa at Miss Mackie’s flat was found at Armer’s home in Kendal.
DNA found on the bottle in her flat matched samples from Armer, and white spirit was found on his trainers and clothes, he said.
The trial is expected to last into next week.