A man who blinded an acquaintance with a corrosive liquid in an ecovillage has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Jivan Dean, 24, attacked Raven Riley, 21, with sodium hydroxide – an alkali also known as caustic soda – in a jealous rage after mistakenly believing she had contacted his girlfriend.
Dean was seen heating a liquid in a pan on a hob before throwing it in Riley's face as he sat in a chair at a property in Tipi Valley in Carmarthenshire.
Tipi Valley is a secluded ecological community founded in 1976 near the village of Llandeilo. Among its residents is Swampy, whose current name is Daniel Hooper, 51, who rose to fame in the 1990s for protests that included spending a week in a tunnel in an attempt to stop work on the A30 at Fairmile ,Devon.
More recently, Hooper has been part of groups camping in treehouses and tunnels as part of the Cease HS2 protests, including in Euston Sq. Gardens, London, while also raising three children with his wife, Clare, in Tipi Valley.
The fields purchased by the community stretch across 81 hectares (200 acres) and many of the residents live in teepees, yurts and grass-roofed cabins. Some of the adults work as day laborers and teachers in nearby towns, while others remain in the valley full time and live outside the network.
The attack on August 14 left Riley blind in both eyes and with burns to his head, face, neck and chest.
People in the community came to his aid, noticing his white, dull eyes, and he was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Riley can now only see blurry shapes and needs help with everyday tasks. Doctors cannot say whether he will regain his sight.
Sentencing at Swansea Crown Court, Judge Geraint Walters said Dean was dangerous and handed down an extended sentence of 15 years custody with a further four years' licence.
“The evil of this goes beyond most reasoning,” the judge said. “It is clear from everything I have heard and read about you that you have shown no remorse for what you did, none at all.
“This case involves a cold, calculated and deliberate act of unimaginable cruelty that was intended to maim its victim for life. Unless you killed your victim, you couldn't have done more harm to him.
Dean was also given a lifetime restraining order.
In a victim impact statement, Riley said her life was in “corona” and she had to use eye drops every three hours.
“I now depend on others and was completely independent before the incident. “It bothers me that my independence has been cruelly taken away from me in such a horrible way,” she said.
“Thanks to Jivan, my life will never be the same. He can still see, I can't. “His actions were reckless and have turned my life upside down.”
Dean, of no fixed address, had previously pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent and causing something dangerous or noxious to be received with intent to burn it.