Man pleads guilty to Leicester gay pub fire attack

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A man has pleaded guilty to an attack at a Leicester gay pub which left two men with serious burns.

Russell Banks and Robert Laszewsk were in the beer garden of the Rainbow and Dove pub when they were doused with flammable liquid and set on fire last October.

Mr Banks was hospitalised for six weeks under sedation and required a number of skin grafts.

In December of last year he told the BBC that the incident had “completely changed his life”.

Mr Banks said he was ashamed of his scars and hated the attacker for making him too “scared” to leave his home.

“I was scared, lonely and heartbroken because if anybody knew me before they would know I was a perfectionist,” said Mr Banks.

“I loved to look after myself, dress myself well, do my hair nice, to think for one split second that was all taken away from me.”

Mr Banks added that he “didn’t want to be here anymore” when he first awoke from his injuries.

Mitchell Dean, 22, of Laindon, in Essex, has admitted to two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent at Basildon Crown Court.

He will be sentenced on 27 September at the same court.

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