A woman has been found guilty of attempting to murder a transvestite who was showered with petrol and set alight following a row over a missing handbag in Birmingham.
Brazilian national Gabryela Passos, 29, was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court of trying to kill Ricardo da Silva at his flat in Digbeth, Birmingham, last December after property belonging to two of his friends, including the Louis Vuitton bag, could not be found.
Her co-defendant, 22-year-old friend Raphael Modesto, of Villiers Street, Charing Cross, London, was acquitted of attempted murder and a lesser charge of arson with intent to endanger life.
During the trial, the jury heard that Passos, of Hogarth Street, Earls Court, London, had set the victim alight after decanting £3 worth of petrol into a bucket.
Mr da Silva, a 25-year-old Brazilian, suffered burns to 70% of his body after being attacked in the early hours of December 9.
Following the attack, the prosecutor said Mr da Silva made fruitless attempts to douse the flames in his shower before banging on the doors of neighbouring flats while screaming for help and still on fire.
The victim - who was initially given less than a 50% chance of survival - then spent more than three months in hospital, undergoing 16 operations in just five weeks.
Passos will be sentenced for attempted murder at Birmingham Crown Court in October on a date to be fixed.
