Yob killed autistic gay teenager at his 18th birthday party by covering him in tanning oil and setting him alight

During the party Steven Simpson was doused in tanning oil before he was set alight by Jordan Sheard



Obscene and homophobic insults were scrawled on victim's stomach, face and forearm



Steven suffered 60 per cent burns and died in June last year



Sheard was jailed for three years and six months after pleading guilty to manslaughter



An autistic teenager died after being covered in self-tanning oil and set alight during drunken ‘horseplay’ at his 18th birthday party, a court heard.



Steven Simpson, who suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, a speech impairment and epilepsy, died from horrific burns the next day.



The court heard that as Mr Simpson became increasingly drunk at his party, he was dared to strip to his boxer shorts.

Autistic Steven Simpson (left) who died at a party after he was doused in tanning oil and set on fire and (right) Jordan Sheard, who held a lighter to his groin and sparked it

Defendant Jordan Sheard, 20, who had gatecrashed the house party, was seen taunting the host, who was openly gay, and then scrawling obscene and homophobic insults on his bare stomach, face and forearm.



Sarah Wright, prosecuting, said ‘it was described as good-natured fun’ but in reality was ‘cruel behaviour’ to someone who was ‘vulnerable and an easy target’.

After 2am, a partygoer took the Calypso tanning oil from Mr Simpson’s bedroom and, as it was poured over him, others chanted: ‘Light it, light it.’



Miss Wright said: ‘Steven did not object; he seemed to be enjoying the situation.’



A bottle of Calypso dry oil tan spray like the one used by Jordan Sheard to set fire to 18-year-old Steven Simpson

But the court heard that Sheard then held a cigarette lighter to Mr Simpson’s groin, and instantly the highly flammable liquid caught alight and flames engulfed his body.



Instead of putting out the fire, Sheard ran away.



The court was told that neighbour Sean Banner was the only person who helped Mr Simpson, and burned himself extinguishing the flames.



Mr Simpson died in hospital from 60 per cent burns the next day.



Sheard, who initially tried to blame the college student for setting himself alight, eventually admitted manslaughter and was jailed for three and a half years at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday.



Passing sentence, Judge Roger Keen told Sheard that the evening had involved ‘good-natured horseplay’ but that putting a flame to a man doused in flammable fluid was ‘a highly dangerous act’.



He also regarded the decision to run away as ‘serious aggravation’ in setting the jail term.



Miss Wright said Sheard only vaguely knew Mr Simpson but was allowed into the party in Barnsley, Yorkshire, last June with two friends anyway.



She said that despite Mr Simpson’s learning difficulties, he was sociable and had lots of friends.



Andrew Smith, defending, said the incident was a ‘criminally stupid prank that went wrong in a bad way’.

