Woman Jailed For Nine Years Over Fatal Acid Attack On Ex-Husband

Paris Wilson has been sentenced to an effective nine years in prison after a jury found her guilty of manslaughter and attempted kidnapping in connection with an acid attack that left her ex-husband, Danny Cahalane, with fatal corrosive injuries.

Case Background

The assault took place at Cahalane's home in Plymouth on 21 February 2025. He was taken to hospital with severe corrosive injuries, underwent around 10 operations and later died several weeks after the attack. Prosecutors told the court the attack was linked to a reported £120,000 drug debt to an overseas organised crime figure identified as Ryan Kennedy, known as 'Frost'.

Charges, Trial and Sentencing

At a four-month trial at Winchester Crown Court, 35-year-old Paris Wilson of Plymouth was convicted of manslaughter and attempted kidnapping. She was sentenced to 12 months for attempted kidnapping (of which the judge ordered she would serve 40%) and a consecutive eight-year term for manslaughter. Taken together, the effective custodial term was nine years; the judge said she would be eligible for release on licence after serving two-thirds of the manslaughter term.

Co-defendants received longer terms according to their roles: Abdulrasheed Adedoja, 23, was given life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years and 255 days for murder; Israel Augustus, 27, received life with a minimum term of 28 years and 210 days for murder plus additional convictions for drug offences and possession of a so-called 'zombie' knife; and Ramarnee Bakas, 24, was jailed for 10 years after being convicted of manslaughter. The judge ordered Bakas to serve two-thirds of his sentence before release eligibility; he had already spent 475 days in custody.

Prosecution Account And Motive

Prosecutors said the attack was orchestrated as part of drug-debt enforcement. Evidence presented in court included messages from an overseas organised crime figure, and the judge noted there was evidence Wilson knew an assault had been planned to occur at Cahalane's address at night. The court heard Wilson and Cahalane had begun a relationship while he was serving a prison sentence for drug offences; they married in 2020 and separated in 2022.

Ms Justice Norton: 'Whatever your motivation was, whether money, security or revenge, in that moment, your main concern was yourself.'

Impact On Family And Wider Inquiry

Victim impact statements described the devastating effect on Cahalane's family. His aunt called his loss 'immeasurable' and remembered him as a devoted father. The court was told Cahalane's mother, who was unwell with cancer, died the day after her son. His stepfather described the attack as 'cruel and deeply distressing'.

Detective Superintendent Rachael Bentley of Devon and Cornwall Police described the assault as 'a particularly barbaric attack on a man in his own home' and emphasised that acid attacks, though rare locally, are especially cowardly and devastating.

Related Convictions

The wider inquiry led to several other convictions and sentences: Isanah Sungum, 22, was jailed for two years and two months after being found guilty of participating in an organised crime gang; Jean Mukuna, 24, and Arrone Mukuna, 25, were jailed for 16 months each for a separate attempted kidnap about four weeks earlier, with Jean Mukuna also receiving an additional consecutive three-year sentence for possession of cocaine with intent to supply. Jude Hill, 44, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter but received 2 years and 8 months for supplying cannabis.

The convictions follow a high-profile investigation into a coordinated violent attack tied by prosecutors to organised criminal debt enforcement. Sentences varied according to each defendant's role in the plot.