Woman jailed after fatal acid attack with three men on ex-husband

The ex-wife of a drug dealer killed in an acid attack in Plymouth has been jailed with three others for a combined 80 years.Danny Cahalane 38, was taken to hospital after the incident at his home in Lipson Road while his young daughter was asleep in the property on February 21 2025.The father-of-two died in hospital on May 3, where he had been treated for 10 weeks for severe burns caused by the sulphuric acid thrown at him in the early-hours attack.Before his death he was able to tell police he believed his drugs “boss”, referred to in the trial by his nickname Frost, had ordered the fatal attack, jurors were told.Read MoreAt Winchester Crown Court, his former partner, Paris Wilson, 35, of Plymouth, Devon, wiped tears from her eyes as she was jailed for nine years for manslaughter and her part in an attempted kidnap of Mr Cahalane in January 2025.Danny Cahalane, 38, died in hospital two months after the acid attack at his home in Plymouth (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)Abdulrasheed Adedoja, 23, of Neasden, north London, and Israel Augustus, 27, of Tottenham, north London, were found guilty of murdering Mr Cahalane and were both jailed for life to serve a minimum of 31 and 30 years respectively.Augustus was also sentenced for possessing a zombie-style knife in a private place and drugs offences.Ramarnee Bakas, 24, of London, was also jailed for 10 years for manslaughter.Abdulrasheed AdedojaThe judge, Ms Justice Norton, said that Wilson had “used her child effectively as bait” for the attempted kidnap incident, which she said was a “particularly unpleasant” aspect of the case.She told Wilson: “Whilst you yourself did not deal drugs, from evidence placed before the jury and messages to your mother, you were clearly happy to associate and provide assistance to those who do.“That assistance provided details to Frost of Danny Cahalane’s whereabouts thereby allowing the attack to take place.“You also used contact arrangements with your daughter to set up Danny Cahalane for an attempted kidnap a month earlier.” Ramarnee Bakas, 23, of London,PAShe told Wilson that there were “two sides to her character” where she praised the defendant’s “hard-working” nature and efforts in bringing up her children.But describing her involvement in the fatal attack, the judge said: “Whatever your motivation, whether money, security or revenge, in that moment your main concern was yourself.”In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Cahalane’s aunt, Jayne Keeper, said that his mother, Vivien Cahalane, had been previously diagnosed with cancer and died in hospital a day after her son.Ms Keeper said that Ms Cahalane missed chemotherapy sessions as she spent time at her son’s bedside in hospital, which she said took a “toll on her health”.Israel AugustusDevon and Cornwall PoliceDescribing Mr Cahalane, who she said had “cared deeply for his mum”, Ms Keeper added: “Danny was a great father and son, he never let his children want for anything.“Despite this, Paris would put him under pressure for money and gifts.”Tony Bleach, Mr Cahalane’s stepfather, said in his statement that he was known in the family as “Big Dan” and he was “big into fitness and health” and was “someone who cared about the people around him”.He said: “Danny was loved and he will always be missed, this just didn’t take Danny’s life, it took part of all our lives too.”Jo Martin KC, prosecuting, told the trial that Mr Cahalane was targeted because he owed his “boss” in the region of £120,000.She said this dealer was a man called Ryan Kennedy, with the nickname of Frost, who operated between Thailand, Spain and Dubai and was currently believed to be in Dubai.Ms Martin said Mr Kennedy had sent messages about having 320kg of cannabis in a shipping container which would have a wholesale value of £960,000, but would be worth about £3.2 million if sold in single gram deals.The prosecutor said Mr Kennedy became “incensed” at Mr Cahalane’s “stalling” and failure to repay the money, and first of all organised an attempted kidnap on him on January 19 2025, and then the fatal attack.Ms Martin said Mr Cahalane had been able to speak to police from his hospital bed before he died from his injuries, and told them he had built up the debts after one of his junior drug dealers had run off without paying him.He also said he had lost more of the money through gambling.Ms Martin said: “He said that he knew that the man behind the attack on him was called Ryan Kennedy, who had the nickname Frost.”Ms Martin said Mr Cahalane had split “acrimoniously” with his ex-wife, Wilson, by 2025, and she became Mr Kennedy’s “go-to contact in Plymouth to try to put pressure on Danny to pay up, and then to get information about Danny’s whereabouts”.She added: “Paris Wilson was seemingly happy to give up all that information on the understanding Frost would make her wealthy.”Jennifer Knight KC, defending Wilson, denied that her client had used her daughter as “bait” to draw Mr Cahalane to the attempted kidnap location, and added she had not received any money for her role in the two incidents.She said: “Paris Wilson is and has always been an immensely hard-working, positive and pro-active person.”Ms Knight added that Wilson was “deeply sorry” that Mr Cahalane died and was taken from his family and children.Ms Martin said that Adedoja was “Frost’s man on the ground” and had made a “significant degree of planning” into the fatal attack.Gudrun Young KC, defending Adedoja, said that he had not intended to kill Mr Cahalane and added: “It’s plain that he was acting at all times under the direction and control of Frost, an older man and an influential and powerful drug dealer in this world.”The judge dismissed a character reference submitted by Adedoja’s sister, saying it appeared to have been written with the assistance of AI.She added that although this did not mean that “some of the sentiments came from the heart, it does not read as something she wrote”.The judge added that such AI-generated notes were becoming increasingly common, with one she had previously seen having the words “insert defendant’s name” still included.Claire Davis KC, representing Augustus, said he had not been involved in the planning of the attack, and Ignatius Hughes KC, representing Bakas, said that his client had written a letter to the judge expressing his “remorse” for his role in the killing.Four other defendants were previously jailed for their roles in the drugs gang.