'Smell of petrol freaks me out': Mother-of-four speaks up after her father tried to set her on fire
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND: A woman has revealed the horror she endured at the hands of her own father, who tried to kill her by putting her in flames. Stacy Brooks’ life was endangered by Mark Brooks after she got involved with a man following a breakup. The 31-year-old woman had reportedly mended her relationship with her estranged father after two decades after she split from her first partner, which left her homeless.
She went on to live with him in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, in July 2021, and reportedly had a good time together. However, when a new man came into her life and she moved out, Mark did not accept it and became so angry that he drenched her in petrol and attempted to light her up.
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After Stacy filed a police complaint, her father was arrested on August 9, 2021, the day he tried to commit the murder. In August this year, he was awarded nine years and six months behind bars after he pled guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to his daughter and to threatening to kill her at Sheffield Crown Court in December 2021.
The 61-year-old man, who had taken two doses of diazepam that fateful day which apparently turned him into 'King Kong,’ has also been placed on an indefinite restraining order to keep him away from Stacy. The woman, who is also the mother of four children, has now spoken up. She said as reported by The Daily Mail, “He was an awful dad and played almost zero part in my life. I never really even thought about him until I was left with nowhere to go after a break-up and a family member suggested I could reconnect with him.
“I thought ‘why not?’ as I'd always craved having a father figure in my life deep down. At first living with him was really lovely, we got on so well, I couldn't believe how good things were. But he soon became really weird with me, almost a bit obsessed with me and hated my having a new boyfriend. But I'd never have thought he would go as far as he did that day.” Stacy explained, “I'm just so glad that lighter didn't work, I'd have been up in flames in seconds. He kept trying it though, he was desperate to hurt me. He'd probably have killed me. I get why my mum told me to steer well clear of him now.”
Brooks mentioned that her father attacked her after she broke up with her new partner but did not go to live with Mark again, opting instead to stayed at a houseshare. But Mark did not leave her alone. “He'd burst into where I was living, ranting and raving. He looked really scary and was making loads of threats to kill me calling me a 'f***ing bitch' and saying I was ‘dead’. It was horrible to see and hear him like that,” Stacy recalled.
“He began getting his hands on me and smashed my head into a door, pulling me around the room by my hair. Before I knew it, he had grabbed a bottle from his coat pocket and was squeezing this liquid all over me. I knew what it was right away, it smelled like lighter fluid or petrol. I was so scared I just froze. He tried twice to set me up in flames but his lighter wouldn't work and when my housemates saw what was going on, he ran off thank god,” she said.
Stacy is happy that her father was sent to prison but she claimed to be affected for life. She added: “He was never a good dad, he was never there but I wanted to give him a second chance. How could he do this to his own flesh and blood though? I'm a mum myself, I could never hurt my own kids. It's affected me loads, I'm always anxious now. If I smell petrol I get really freaked out, it sends me into a panic. I'm just glad he's finally got some justice - he deserves everything he gets.”