Woman describes fight to save ammonia victim's life

Andrew Foster died after being sprayed in the face with ammonia

A woman whose partner died after being sprayed in the face with ammonia has told a murder trial of her desperate fight to save his life.

Katie Harrison was in bed when she heard Andrew Foster, 26, scream for help at their home in Wrekenton, Gateshead, on 20 August, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

Meanwhile, a woman who lost an eye in a chemical attack allegedly carried out by the same gang four days previously described how she was instantly blinded and felt as if her lungs collapsed.

Four men deny charges including murder.

Prosecutor Mark McKone KC said the gang carried out four attacks with a corrosive liquid across Gateshead and South Tyneside between 9 and 20 August, with the last being the fatal one on Mr Foster.

He said the so-called "taxing" raids were orchestrated by drug dealer Youssef Wynne against rivals and carried out by his "enforcer" Paul Fawcett, assisted on the last three occasions by John Wandless.

'Knew he was dead'

Ms Harrison said she went to bed shortly before 23:00 BST on the night of the attack on Mr Foster.

In a police interview played to jurors, Ms Harrison said she was watching videos on her phone when she heard her partner, who dealt drugs from the house, answer a knock at the front door and say "you alright mate" as if he "recognised" the visitor.

She heard a deeper-voiced man reply, then suddenly Mr Foster was "screaming" and yelling for her to call an ambulance.

Ms Harrison said she initially thought he had been stabbed, but then saw his eyes were "all red and swollen" and he was clutching and clawing at his face.

She said Mr Foster was screaming and shouting "it's ammonia" and "I can't breathe", and she could smell a "really strong chemically" odour which caught her in the throat.

Ms Harrison called 999 and the operator told her to wash his face so she was running to and from the kitchen to get water.

When she returned to him the third time, Mr Foster had stopped screaming and breathing, she said.

The call handler talked her through CPR and she was "sat on top of him doing it" until paramedics arrived and took over.

She started to cry as she said: "I knew he was dead from doing CPR on him, I could tell from his face."

The court has heard he was pronounced dead at hospital almost 24 hours later, with a pathologist saying the ammonia spray triggered a fatal asthma attack.

Four men are on trial for multiple charges including murder at Newcastle Crown Court

Jurors also heard from Natalie Dixon, the victim of the third attack.

She said she was on her sofa in her Jarrow living room on 16 August when, at about 18:15 BST, two men appeared "uninvited" in the doorway having come in through the back door.

She said her partner Steven Bowden was in his chair with his leg in plaster after breaking it several days earlier.

She said one of the men was "stocky" and the other "gaunt" and "looked funny".

Prosecutors say the first man was Mr Wandless and the other Mr Fawcett.

Ms Dixon said the stocky man had a hammer which he swung towards Mr Bowden twice.

She leapt up and grabbed it on the second swing, she told the court, and the stocky man then squirted a liquid in her face which instantly blinded her and left her unable to breathe.

"It felt like my lungs had been closed off and sort of shut down," Ms Dixon told jurors.

'Punched with ring'

The two men searched her kitchen and made off with Mr Bowden's personal supply of cannabis, Ms Dixon said.

The court heard she suffered a "severe" and "significant" chemical injury to her left eye and, despite multiple operations, it had to be removed on 5 December.

The court also heard from a a friend of Mr Foster's who said she was at his home one night 11 months before the fatal attack.

She said Mr Foster had gone to answer the door but had not returned after five minutes.

She went out and found him with a bleeding wound on his head and he told her "Yousi", a nickname for Mr Wynne, had "punched him with a ring on" as Mr Foster owed him money, the court heard.

The woman said she knew Mr Foster used to make cannabis edibles for Mr Wynne.

The defendants and their charges are:

• Youssef Wynne, 39 and of Wuppertal Court, Jarrow, denies murder, robbery, assault causing actual bodily harm, inflicting grievous bodily harm and two counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent

• Paul Fawcett, 33 and of Balkwell Avenue, North Shields, denies murder, robbery, inflicting grievous bodily harm and two counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent

• John Wandless, 33 and of no fixed abode, denies murder, robbery, inflicting grievous bodily harm and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm but admits handling a stolen VW Golf and arson for destroying the car

• Josh Hawthorn, 22 and of Ashfield, Jarrow, denies murder and robbery

The trial continues.

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