Man drenched with sulphuric acid in lifeless of the evening as ex-wife responsible of manslaughter
Paris Wilson, 35, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter and attempted kidnap after helping orchestrate an acid attack on her ex-husband Danny Cahalane
Danny Cahalane and Paris Wilson(Image: Facebook)
A woman who masterminded a fatal acid attack on her former husband has been convicted of manslaughter and attempted kidnap.
Paris Wilson, 35, from Plymouth, was found guilty of the two charges but acquitted of murder by jurors at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday. Danny Cahalane was assaulted with sulphuric acid at his residence in Lipson Road, Plymouth, on February 21, 2025. The 38-year-old succumbed to his injuries in hospital on May 3 last year.
After an 18-week trial, the jury declared Wilson guilty of manslaughter in relation to Mr Cahalane’s death and attempted kidnap linked to a previous incident.
The jury also convicted Ramarnee Bakas, 23, from London, of manslaughter, while Abdulrasheed Adedoja, 23, and Israel Augustus, 26, also from London, were found guilty of murder.
Jean and Arrone Mukuna – aged 24 and 25 respectively and both from London – were also convicted of attempted kidnap. Isanah Sungum, 22, from London, was found guilty of involvement in organised crime, reports the Mirror.
The court heard that Wilson, a former criminal justice worker, had told Mr Cahalane: “I hope you and your butters girl both end up with acid in your faces” just four days prior to the attack. Jurors were informed that two men stormed into Mr Cahalane’s home in the dead of night and drenched him with sulphuric acid.
Mr Cahalane, who worked as a personal trainer and drug dealer, owed £120,000 to a drug lord known as Frost – real name Ryan Kennedy – who is believed to be based in Dubai. Prosecutor Joanna Martin KC told the jury Wilson was the “go-to contact in Plymouth” for Frost, who wanted to track down Mr Cahalane to recover his money and “teach him a significant lesson for his lack of respect”.
Frost was said to be livid over Mr Cahalane’s constant excuses for failing to repay the cash and wanted to ensure he “was not making a fool out of him”. The jury heard Wilson, who had a daughter with Mr Cahalane, served as Frost’s primary source of intelligence and that this was “on the understanding Frost would make her wealthy”.
Ms Martin said Wilson betrayed her former husband because she would receive £2,000 and “because Danny deserved to be hurt”. Jurors also heard Wilson had previously enticed Mr Cahalane to her home in Plymouth, where three men attempted to abduct him the month before the assault.
While receiving treatment in hospital for the acid attack, Mr Cahalane told detectives that two men armed with knives and a screwdriver doused him in acid during a six-and-a-half-minute attack while his young daughter slept nearby.
The assailants – Augustus and a second man who is yet to face trial – escaped through the rear of the property and drove off in a stolen car.
Giving evidence, Wilson admitted the “acid in your faces” comment was a “horrible thing to say” and even more so after what happened to Mr Cahalane four days later. But she said: “I was not party to it being enacted.” She alleged she had previously heard such threats from drug lord Frost, including one where he mentioned “melting Danny’s face among other things”.
Wilson refuted Mr Cahalane’s assertion that she was “materialistic and money driven” and also dismissed the Crown’s claim that she “was making this up as you go along”. “Money from Frost was secondary to this. I don’t manipulate things. I spoke spitefully but I don’t act spitefully.”
She asserted that Frost had issued a veiled threat over Mr Cahalane’s drug debt, stating it was “everybody’s problem”.
Wilson’s legal team stated she was aware that Mr Cahalane had been involved in drug dealing and that Frost contacted her in November 2024 about the drugs debt – but they said she was completely unaware of the acid attack on him. She claimed she only discovered about the acid attack when police arrived at her doorstep shortly after it occurred.
Mr Cahalane and Frost were childhood friends from a south-east London council estate and they trafficked drugs, with Frost as the boss and Cahalane his representative in Plymouth.
Mr Cahalane had alleged a man lower down in the chain fled to New Zealand without settling his debt, and also confessed he had “gambled with the profits”.
The court was told Mr Cahalane “stalled and lied” to Frost who became “increasingly incensed and agitated”, and Wilson informed police she attempted to be a “mediator” in the debt dispute.
She asserted that she had not given Frost Cahalane’s home address after he promised her a “nice drink”, adding: “I didn’t want Dan hurt and I would never facilitate that.” The judge, Ms Justice Norton, announced she will sentence those found guilty of murder, manslaughter and attempted kidnap next month.
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