A man who poured petrol on a woman and set her on fire has pleaded guilty to murder after she died almost two years after the attack.

Leigh Pateman, 45, previously admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and has been serving a prison sentence after causing “significant burns” to the upper half of Ellen Marshall’s body.

Emergency services were called to a property in Firbeck Avenue, Skegness, on April 22, 2021, where Pateman had doused Ms Marshall, who was 42 at the time, with petrol and “set the petrol on fire”. .

Pateman pleaded guilty to the most serious charge of murder at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday after Ms Marshall died from her injuries in March 2023.

Lincolnshire Police said the murder charge was authorized after consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service.

Pateman, formerly of Firbeck Avenue, will be sentenced on December 2 at the same court.

Judge Simon Hirst told the defendant, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Garth: “You know that the sentence I must impose on you will be life imprisonment.

“What I must determine, and I will have the help of an attorney, is the minimum period that you must serve.”