No ban on entering town for Samuel Nicholson, who poured glue over woman's head in Scarborough street

Samuel Nicholson, 20, was jailed for more than four years earlier this month for a shocking street attack on a woman in Scarborough in which he poured industrial-strength glue over her head, causing burns and hair loss.

When sentencing Nicholson three weeks ago, judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said he would also consider banning him from Scarborough altogether to protect the victim as part of a wider exclusion zone from which Nicholson would be prohibited from entering.

Nicholson, of Trafalgar Road, was back in the dock on Monday for the adjourned hearing when Mr Morris told him he would be banned from entering certain areas upon his eventual release from prison, but would not for the time being be barred from the town altogether.

But he warned him: “If you come before me for criminality in Scarborough (again)…I will ban you from living in (the town) for the rest of your life.”

The judge had considered an outright ban to allow the victim to live safely in the town if she decided to move back there.

But prosecutor Austin Newman said the victim had moved out of Scarborough “out of sheer terror” following the attack and had no plans to return to the town, therefore there was no need for Nicholson to be removed from the town completely.

In the event, the judge made a 10-year restraining order which bans Nicholson from contacting the victim or going within certain designated areas.

Nicholson is currently serving a 52-month jail sentence for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice following the “horrendous” attack on September 6 when he crept up behind the woman and poured super-strength glue over her head, causing skin burns and hair loss.

During the attack, Nicholson shouted: “You are going to be bald.”

The prosecution said the woman was so traumatised by the attack that she lost her job because she was unable to work due to her injuries.

The day before the incident, Nicholson sent her threatening Facebook messages following a purported falling-out between the victim and another female known to him.

The victim was walking towards North Street when Nicholson crept up behind her holding “some kind of receptacle”.

“He came up to her and suddenly poured a substance from the receptacle over her head, shouting ‘Ha, ha, you’re bald,’” added Mr Newman.

“The substance turned out to be extremely-strong industrial glue (which) covered her hair and neck (and) caused a burning sensation to the scalp and exposed skin.”

The terrified woman, who was named in court, could not get the glue out of her hair because it had “solidified”.

“She suffered skin burns and some hair loss, some of it having to be cut off to remove the glue,” added Mr Newman.

Police were informed and went to a woman’s flat in Scarborough a few days later where they arrested Nicholson.

Mr Newman said Nicholson had coerced this woman into telling police that it was she who had attacked the victim in the street to save his own skin.

Both Nicholson and the woman were charged with perverting the course of justice by lying about who was to blame for the attack. She admitted the deceit, but Nicholson maintained the lie right up to the doors of the court where he finally owned up.

In a statement read out in court, the victim described her “terror and panic” during the attack, fearing that the substance was acid and could cause her to go blind.

“It’s had an impact on her self-esteem at the loss of her hair and the pain and suffering caused to her by burns to the skin,” said Mr Newman .

“She said it took four days to remove the glue from her scalp, during which she couldn’t work and lost her job, and the burns took between four to five months to heal.”

Nicholson had previous convictions for battering a female, as well as breaching restraining orders.

Defence barrister Nick Peacock said Nicholson was “ashamed of himself” for the “horrendous” offences.

At the time of sentence, judge Mr Morris told Nicholson: “I can’t think of a more cowardly, calculated act.”