Susan Varley was viciously attacked by her neighbour outside her own home in February last year
Megan Shaw Lifestyle reporter
05:00, 20 Jan 2026
A Leeds woman says her disabled mum – who was attacked on her own doorstep with boiling hot water – continues to live in fear ‘despite council promises to remove her attacker’s family from the neighbourhood’.
Susan Varley, 68, had just left her home in Morley just before 8am to take her grandson to school on Thursday, February, 6 of last year. when her neighbour Ina Priestly, 56, approached her and, without saying a word, threw a kettle full of boiling hot water at her.
CCTV footage, which can be watched above shows Priestly purposefully walking towards Susan before tipping the kettle in shocking scenes. Priestly was arrested the same day as the attack and originally pleaded not guilty, before changing her plea on the day of her trial on August 5.
On September 9, Priestly was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to a two year community order, and is required to comply with 25 rehabilitation days. She was also given a £114 surcharge and an indefinite restraining order to not contact Susan, either directly or indirectly.
She was also evicted from the council property, however, Priestly’s family members still reside there. This means that Susan, who is still struggling with the aftermath of the attack, has randomly bumped into her attacker in the local area serving as a terrifying reminder.
Susan Varley was left seriously injured by the boiling water(Image: Donna Varley)
Susan’s daughter, Donna Varley, 36, has spoken out publicly, describing the unprovoked assault as “disgusting” and “life-changing” for her mother, an elderly woman with significant health problems. Although Priestly later entered a guilty plea, the family say justice has fallen short after reassurances from authorities the remaining family members would be removed.
According to the Donna, Leeds City Council promised that the perpetrator would be evicted along with her remaining family in what the local authority describes as a ‘complex’ case. Eleven months on, she claims nothing has changed. The continued presence of the family, she says, has left her mother traumatised, unable to feel safe in her own home and struggling with her mental health.
Donna told Leeds Live: “I’m angry, I’m hurt and I’m fed up. After everything that has happened to my mum she deserves peace, happiness and security, instead, she’s forced to live with constant reminders of what happened.
Susan Varley was left with serious injuries to her face(Image: Donna Varley)
“We have been nothing but patient with Leeds City Council, we understand and appreciate that the situation isn’t as simple as just moving the two vulnerable men as they need an adapted house but we are now almost one year on and nothing has changed.
“We feel for the [remaining family], we know they are comfortable where they are but enough is enough now. It’s not fair on my mum.”
Adding: “My poor mum is having to be reminded of that cruel and viscous attack on a daily basis. She still has flashbacks of the attack, she gets really panicky if she sees a car that is anything like that of Priestley’s. She is frightened to death, she’s anxious, she doesn’t sleep.”
Describing what her mum is like now, Donna said: “She is a shadow of herself and it’s heart-breaking to see. My poor mum is a shadow of the person she used to be, she will not speak about what’s happened, she used to be so bubbly and outgoing, she won’t talk to anyone anymore.
Susan Varley was left with serious injuries to her face(Image: Donna Varley)
“She won’t go anywhere on her own, she is not the woman I grew up with, the mum I knew. She won’t sit in the garden, she’s constantly thinking what if she comes back, she jumps at every noise, she is completely traumatised. She doesn’t deserve this, I just want my mum back, she is vulnerable, she has been through so much.”
Donna continued: “The council keep saying they have a duty of care to them, which I understand – but where is their duty to my mum?! She is also disabled, she is 68-years-old and what everybody seems to be forgetting is she is the victim here.
“My mum’s house is privately owned. Theirs is a council house, yet they tried to move my mum, my mum is the victim and she has been treated like she is the problem. After she got the guilty plea and the eviction notice it’s like it just doesn’t matter anymore.
“They seem to have just forgotten about it now, she has been moved and charged, it’s like they have closed the case they told me at Christmas there is no new update, it’s always me chasing them, me contacting them. The council keep assuring me her attacker won’t go back to the house but how do we know that? We didn’t expect her to throw a kettle of boiling water on her but she did.”
Susan Varley(Image: Donna Varley)
Donna added: “This isn’t something time fixes, time just makes us more determined to be heard. My mum hasn’t got the fight in her anymore but I do and I will always be my mum’s voice for as long as it takes, I want her to have life back.”
Mum-of-two, Donna, has called on the public to share her story to highlight what she describes as “a failure to protect vulnerable tenants” and to “take mental health seriously”. She fears that without her advocacy, her mother would have been left to live in fear indefinitely.
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “We continue to engage with all relevant parties in this complex case, and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
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