Michael Epstein, representing Dale Carter, said the prosecution was "clutching at straws" by claiming his client was criminally responsible for what happened. He said the prosecution accepted that Carter hadn't set out to deliberately cause the victims' injuries but had acted recklessly. April Charlesworth, a former Colchester Institute student, suffered burns to her neck, hands and face after the fuel bottle exploded. The court heard that the night in question was the cousins’ first night out after the Covid lockdown and they and the rest of the group were sitting at tables in the pub car park. Mark Lawrence told the court he saw Carter put fuel from a bottle on the table on the heater.