Court upholds conviction on charge of assault and battery with a dangerous gas

The Massachusetts Appeals Court today upheld an assault and battery charge against a man who flooded his estranged wife's home with natural gas and who had to be pulled out of the house when it caught fire.

Cedric Lednum of Fall River was convicted of tampering with the gas line into her house after she told him she wanted a divorce. Fortunately for the wife and her neighbors, a gas-company worker happened to be in the area and quickly turned off the gas main when he saw smoke coming out of the house and noticed the meter was "spinning rapidly.

Lednum's lawyers argued the conviction was improper because, hey, "he did not seal the house, prevent the victims from opening the window, or stop them from leaving the premises."

Complete ruling.