Ex-wife of drug dealer jailed over his death in 'barbaric' acid attack

A woman whose drug-dealer ex-husband was killed in a "barbaric" acid attack has been jailed with three others for a combined 80 years.

Danny Cahalane, 38, was taken to hospital after he was attacked at his home in Lipson Road, Plymouth, while his young daughter was asleep on 21 February 2025.

The father-of-two died in hospital on 3 May, where he had been treated for 10 weeks for severe burns caused by sulphuric acid in the early-hours assault.

His ex-wife, Paris Wilson, supplied information on his whereabouts to a crime boss and another organiser, Ramarnee Bakas.

Israel Augustus and Abdul-Rasheed Adedoja were convicted of his murder, with police saying Adedoja was instrumental in planning the killing and directing events that followed.

Before his death, Mr Cahalane was able to tell police he believed his drugs "boss", referred to by his nickname Frost in the trial, had ordered the fatal attack, jurors were told.

Wilson, 35, of Plymouth, Devon, wiped tears from her eyes at Winchester Crown Court as she was jailed for nine years following an 18-week trial. She was convicted of manslaughter, and for her part in an earlier kidnap attempt against Mr Cahalane in January 2025.

Adedoja, 23, of Neasden, north London, and Augustus, 27, of Tottenham, north London, were found guilty of murdering Mr Cahalane.

Both were jailed for life to serve a minimum of 31 and 30 years respectively.

A character reference submitted by Adedoja's sister was dismissed by the judge, who said it appeared to have been written with the assistance of AI.

She said submissions like this had become increasingly common, and that she had seen one before with the words "insert defendant's name" still included.

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Augustus was also sentenced for possessing a zombie-style knife in a private place and drugs offences.

Bakas, 24, of London, was also jailed for 10 years for manslaughter.

The judge, Ms Justice Norton, said that Wilson had "used her child effectively as bait" for the attempted kidnap, which she said was a "particularly unpleasant" aspect of the case.

She told Wilson: "Whilst you yourself did not deal drugs, from evidence placed before the jury and messages to your mother, you were clearly happy to associate and provide assistance to those who do.

"That assistance provided details to Frost of Danny Cahalane's whereabouts thereby allowing the attack to take place.

"You also used contact arrangements with your daughter to set up Danny Cahalane for an attempted kidnap a month earlier."

The judge told Wilson that there were "two sides to her character", praising the defendant's "hard-working" nature and efforts in bringing up her children.

But, turning to Wilson's involvement in the attack, she said: "Whatever your motivation, whether money, security or revenge, in that moment your main concern was yourself."

Mr Cahalane had worked for a drugs boss based overseas, managing the Plymouth branch of his operation, and owed him around £120,000.

He had run up the debts after one of his junior drug dealers fled without paying him, with more money lost through gambling, and he was unable to repay the Dubai-based kingpin.

Jo Martin KC, prosecuting, told the court this boss was a man called Ryan Kennedy, nicknamed Frost.

She said Mr Cahalane had split "acrimoniously" with Wilson by 2025, and she became Mr Kennedy's "go-to contact in Plymouth to try to put pressure on Danny to pay up, and then to get information about Danny's whereabouts".

Sentencing, the judge said that Mr Cahalane was attacked because "he owed a significant drug debt", adding he "suffered horrific injuries after he was doused in acid".

She said: "Danny suffered significant corrosive injuries that had he survived would have been life-changing.

"For most if not all of the weeks between the assault and his death he would have been in significant pain."

Detective Superintendent Rachael Bentley, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "This was a particularly barbaric attack on a man in his own home - a place he should have been safe.

"It involved numerous individuals based in Plymouth, London and abroad who performed various roles in the planning, execution and events following the attack.

"Organised crime has no place in our community and when it does creep into our force area, we will investigate and target those responsible regardless of where they stand in the chain of command."

(c) Sky News 2026: Ex-wife of drug dealer jailed over his death in 'barbaric' acid attack