Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - October 6, 2005
Bianca Chikanya, 22, of Russel Rise, Luton, left 25-year-old Constantine Chikamba's face a "grotesque" mess.
During the attack she also plunged a kitchen knife into his back.
Chikanya had her four-year jail term, imposed in May this year after she admitted causing grievous bodily harm, increased to eight years.
Lawyers for the Attorney General challenged the sentence, imposed at Luton Crown Court, as "unduly lenient" and demanded it be increased.
'Turbulent' relationship
Barrister Brain Altman, for the Attorney General, said Mr Chikamba was in bed at the time he was attacked, and had begged Chikanya not to hurt him any more just before she stabbed him.
Lord Justice Latham, sitting with Mr Justice Openshaw and Mr Justice Newman, accepted that Chikanya had been "provoked" when Mr Chikamba insulted her over her HIV status - and also agreed she had had a troubled childhood.
But he concluded that an eight-year sentence should have been passed, and said that, had it not been for the provocation, it would have been into double figures.
The court heard on 12 September, 2004, Chikanya's "turbulent" relationship with Mr Chikamba reached a crisis point when he ridiculed her about her HIV, claiming that no one would want her in the future.
She pleaded guilty on the basis that, within seconds, she had grabbed a pan full of hot oil from the kitchen, and in a rage tipped it over Mr Chikamba, causing 37% burns to his face, neck and chest.
Barrister, Bart Casella, for Chikanya, told the court she had suffered at the hands of relatives when she was young, and that, coupled with her HIV, had left her pyschologically disturbed.
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