Man threw boiling oil in police officer's face

Mohammed Sarfaraz was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm

A man who threw boiling oil at two police officers, hitting one in the face and chest, has been jailed for nine years.

Mohammed Sarfaraz, 45, deliberately heated a pan of oil in his parents' kitchen to create a "highly dangerous weapon" when he found out police were on their way to see him, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The injured officer was left with permanent scarring on his face and chest and there were initial fears he might have been blinded, the court heard.

Sarfaraz had denied any wrongdoing but was unanimously found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, attempted wounding and affray by jurors.

The taxi driver had previously called police to complain about not being allowed to see his children after the breakdown of his marriage, Judge Robert Adams said.

In May last year police arrested him after he refused to leave the area outside his former home in Newcastle, during which he kicked out at officers.

Mohammed Sarfaraz was convicted and jailed at Newcastle Crown Court

On 17 January this year, five officers went to the house in Kenton believing he was there.

His wife told them he was at his parents' home in Gosforth and, as they left, they could see her making a phone call which was her "no doubt warning" Sarfaraz police were on their way, the judge said.

The officers were met at the home by Sarfaraz's parents and sister who were "obstructive" and "clearly not telling the truth" when they claimed he was not there, Judge Adams said.

Police entered the house "lawfully" and searched for him, with a female officer finding him in the kitchen holding a pain of boiling oil, the court heard.

As she shouted at him to put it down, two male officers entered the room and Sarfaraz swung the pan at them.

One officer was struck in the face and chest by the oil while the other narrowly avoided being hit, the court heard.

Children 'shocked and upset'

Sarfaraz then fled into a garage and barricaded himself in, with a battering ram used to enter and Taser's fired before he was arrested.

In his police interview, Sarfaraz claimed he had heated the oil to cook an egg, but Judge Adams said the body-worn camera footage from the officers showed that to be "clearly untrue" and the jury rejected his story.

In statements read to the court, the officer that was struck said he was off work for a month and had to visit a burns unit every two or three days.

He said his children were "shocked" and "upset" to see his injuries and he had been left permanently scarred.

The judge said Sarfaraz still maintained his innocence and had written a 30-page letter to the court in which he blamed police for "terrorising" him and accused social workers of discriminating against him because he was a Muslim man.

"I don't accept that," Judge Adams said, with the court hearing there had been 22 domestic violence reports between 2013 and 2024 in which Sarfaraz had been the suspect and 44 child concern notifications.

The judge said Sarfaraz had also tried to "blackmail" him by claiming he would kill himself if given a long prison sentence.

"I'm not prepared to be threatened in that way," Judge Adams told Sarfaraz, adding it was "inappropriate" to seek to put pressure on a judge to act in a way "contrary to [his] duties".

The judge said Sarfaraz had been assessed as posing a "high spousal assault risk" and a risk of serious harm to the public.