Key Points
- Ethan Higton, 27, of Woodland Road East, Colwyn Bay, has received a jail term of three years and four months at Mold Crown Court.
- Mr Higton pleaded guilty to attempted grievous bodily harm with intent to cause injury by throwing boiling water from a plastic shake bottle to the face and neck of fellow HMP Berwyn prisoner Macauley Oswald.
- The attack occurred at around 4.20 pm on 15 April 2025 on the upper-wing landing during the afternoon association period in HMP Berwyn, Wrexham.
- The boiling water reddened and blistered Mr Oswald’s left face and neck; he was later attended at the burns unit of Whiston Hospital in Merseyside.
- In his defense, Mr Higton alleged that Mr Oswald owed him some money for vapes, and that he wanted to leave the wing; Mr Oswald denied this explanation was correct.
- When asked whether he was remorseful of the attack, Mr Higton allegedly responded with: “No, not really. I’ll do it again, like.”
- Mr Oswald stated in his victim personal statement that the pain was excruciating and that the attack affected his mental wellbeing, although he forgave Higton.
Wrexham (Wales Times) October 24, 2026 — A Colwyn Bay man has been returned to prison after throwing boiling water into the face of another inmate at HMP Berwyn, leaving the victim with blistering burns to his face and neck. As reported by the North Wales Pioneer, Ethan Higton, 27, of Woodland Road East, was sentenced to three years and four months at Mold Crown Court on Friday, October 23, after previously pleading guilty to attempted grievous bodily harm.
The court heard that Higton carried out the attack while already serving a prison sentence. According to North Wales Live reporter coverage carried by the Daily Post, prosecutor Karl Scholz told Mold Crown Court that prisoners had been allowed out of their cells for an hour of “afternoon association” at 3.15pm on April 15, 2025. At about 4.20pm, Macauley Oswald was returning to his cell along the upper-wing landing when he passed Higton’s cell.
Mr Scholz said Higton was leaning over a railing and heard someone approaching from behind. When Mr Oswald turned, Higton threw liquid from a shake bottle—a plastic container used for mixing shakes—into his face. The prosecutor said Higton then ran back to his cell and locked the door.
How badly was the prisoner injured?
The boiling water struck Mr Oswald on the left side of his face and neck, causing reddening and blistering of the skin. As reported by the North Wales Pioneer, Mr Oswald was taken to a burns unit later that day for treatment; North Wales Live reported that he was taken to Whiston Hospital’s burns unit on Merseyside.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, Mr Oswald described the pain as “excruciating”. The North Wales Pioneer reported that he said the assault made him unwilling to leave his cell for weeks afterwards.
Mr Oswald also said the incident had a lasting psychological effect. As reported by North Wales Live, he told the court he was now particularly anxious about people walking behind him and was self-conscious about a permanent scar on the left side of his face, which he described as a “permanent reminder” of the attack.
In his statement, Mr Oswald said: “Ethan Higton has destroyed me as a person. My mental health has deteriorated because of what you did to me.” He added that Higton had “no right” to carry out the assault and that the explanation given for it was a lie, before saying: “I forgive you for what you did.”
Why did Ethan Higton carry out the attack?
Higton told authorities that he had wanted to get off the wing and claimed that Mr Oswald had vapes belonging to him that had not been paid for. As reported by North Wales Live, the prosecution said Higton alleged there was an “unpaid vapes debt” between the two men.
However, the court heard that Mr Oswald disputed that account. In his statement, he said the reason Higton gave for the assault was untrue.
When asked whether he felt remorse, Higton gave what North Wales Live described as a blunt response: “No, not really. I’ll do it again, like.” The North Wales Pioneer likewise reported that, when asked if he regretted what he had done, Higton said: “No, not really.”
What sentence did the judge impose?
Recorder David Elias KC jailed Higton for 40 months—three years and four months—for attempted grievous bodily harm with intent. The North Wales Pioneer reported that the judge also ordered Higton to pay a £228 statutory surcharge within six months of his release from prison.
The sentence reflected a one-third reduction for Higton’s guilty plea at an early opportunity. As reported by North Wales Live, Recorder Elias noted that Higton had caused reddening and blistering to his victim’s skin and was not remorseful, but had pleaded guilty early.
Myles Wilson, representing Higton, told the court that the offence did not involve significant planning or premeditation.
Was Higton already in prison?
Yes. The court heard that Higton was already serving a 32-month sentence when the assault took place. As reported by North Wales Live, he had been sentenced on February 11, 2025, for harassment and sending a threatening communication, and the attack occurred roughly two months into that term.
The North Wales Pioneer similarly reported that Higton had been jailed for two years and eight months in February 2025 after harassing and threatening to kill a woman. It said the boiling-water attack occurred while he was serving that sentence.
Background of the development
HMP Berwyn is a prison in uk/local/wrexham/">Wrexham, North Wales. According to GOV.UK guidance, boiling water is provided at the prison for visitors preparing baby formula, although that reference concerns visit arrangements rather than the circumstances of this assault.
The case adds to earlier court reporting involving scalding attacks at HMP Berwyn. In separate proceedings reported by North Wales Live, another prisoner, Stephen Atkins, received an additional 18-month sentence after throwing boiling kettle water mixed with sugar over another inmate; the court was told the sugar had been added to make the injuries worse.
The latest case was reported by the Leader/LeaderLive, the North Wales Pioneer and North Wales Live (Daily Post), with court proceedings heard at Mold Crown Court on October 23, 2026.
Prediction: What it means for prisoners and prison safety
For prisoners, prison staff and families with relatives at HMP Berwyn, the case is likely to reinforce concerns about violence connected to debts, disputes and the movement of prohibited items within prisons. The reported allegation of an unpaid vapes debt may prompt renewed attention among prisoners and their families to how informal debts can escalate into serious physical violence.
For prison management, the sentencing may increase scrutiny of how quickly staff can respond to assaults on wings, how containers of hot water are handled during association periods, and how prisoners who report intimidation or debt-related pressure are protected. The victim’s account of lasting anxiety and a permanent scar illustrates that such incidents can have consequences well beyond the immediate physical injury.
For the wider North Wales community, the case is likely to be followed as another example of violence within the prison system rather than as an isolated local incident. The court’s decision to impose a 40-month term, after credit for an early plea, signals that attacks causing burns inside custody are being treated as serious offences carrying substantial additional imprisonment.
