Sue Varley: West Yorkshire grandma screams in agony after neighbour throws boiling water over her and child

This is the chilling moment a grandmother was doused in boiling water outside her home, in front of her four-year-old grandson, in an unprovoked attack that has left a community horrified.

CCTV footage from Morley, West Yorkshire, captures 68-year-old Sue Varley heading out with her grandson on February 6 when neighbour Ina Priestly emerges with a steaming kettle.

Without a word, she raises it and tips scalding water above the child’s head, soaking Ms Varley’s face before calmly walking back inside.

The boy, sitting on his grandmother’s walker, was just centimetres away from being hit.

“The screams — you can hear them on the footage,” Ms Varley’s daughter Donna said.

“I can’t listen to it with sound. It breaks my heart.”

Neighbours rushed outside to find Ms Varley clutching her face, screaming in pain. Police and paramedics arrived within 15 minutes, fearing the shock could send the pensioner into cardiac arrest, The Sun reported.

Ms Varley was treated at the scene before being rushed to the hospital. The boiling water left her scalp and ear severely burned, one eye swollen shut, and blisters across her face.

“They had to put her head under the shower straight away,” Ms Varley recalled.

“She was shaking. It could have killed her.”

Ms Varley credits her thick winter coat and glasses for saving her from even worse injuries.

“I was in a lot of pain and I was crying for my grandson,” she said.

“He could have been hurt — and how he wasn’t I don’t know. He’s very lucky. He’s only four years old and he shouldn’t have seen something like that. I was more worried about him.”

Even weeks later, Ms Varley still bears visible scars.

“Anyone who knows my mum knows she’s the kindest soul you’ll ever meet,” Ms Varley’s daughter said.

“She didn’t deserve this.”

The attack, Ms Varley says, came after years of petty disputes with Ms Priestly.

“I think the issues started when I was a teenager — little neighbour disputes like fences that you just think are pathetic,” she said.

“My mum’s always been advised not to speak to her and report everything she’s doing. Nothing triggered this. She said she didn’t know what she’d done wrong and she doesn’t understand why she’s done it.”

Ms Varley herself said she had always tried to avoid confrontation. “I’ve never done anything to her,” she told relatives from her hospital bed. “I still can’t believe it.”

Court Outcome Sparks Outrage

Ms Priestly pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm but was spared jail, receiving a two-year community order, 25 rehabilitation activity days, and a restraining order banning her from contacting Ms Varley.

Ms Varley said she was “angry” and “baffled” at the decision. “

I’m just baffled at why they’ve let her out,” she said.

Donna was furious: “Knowing someone has done that and walked free — I’m absolutely raging. My mum’s still got to go around, looking over her shoulder. She’s a paranoid wreck. Where’s the justice in this?”

Living in Fear

Donna has since installed security cameras around her mother’s home, fearing Ms Priestly might strike again.

“She’s been having flashbacks and she even needed sleeping pills because everywhere she went she could see Ina with a kettle,” she said.

Ms Varley now avoids leaving the house unless accompanied.

“She’s a prisoner in her own home,” Donna added.

“It’s changed everything.”

Community Shock

The attack has left locals stunned. Neighbours who witnessed the aftermath say they can’t believe Ms Priestly escaped prison time.

“This was boiling water, it could have blinded her,” one neighbour said.

“We’re all on edge now, it was like a horror film”.

The case has sparked wider debate about sentencing for violent offences. Local residents have called for tougher penalties for unprovoked attacks, especially those putting children at risk.