A woman who set her boyfriend on fire was probably suffering from Battered Woman's Syndrome, a psychiatrist testified at an attempted murder trial yesterday.

Dr. Anne Guthrie said in Supreme Court that Veronica Leslene Dill likely also suffered from "disassociation'' -- and therefore could not fully think through all of her actions.

Dill, 26, of Somerset, is accused of setting her 32-year old boyfriend, Graham Robert Stancliffe, on fire. She has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, grievous bodily harm with intent to burn and arson.

The offences are alleged to have occurred on October 13, 1993 at the home the couple shared on Pembroke's North Shore.

Dill claims Stancliffe, who received second-degree burns when she used gasoline to set his bed on fire, abused her emotionally, physically and sexually.

Dr. Guthrie, who saw Dill twice in preparing for the trial, explained that BWS is a widely-acknowledged syndrome in the psychiatric field.

"BWS has recognised cycles of abuse,'' she said. "The effect of this abuse is learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is a feeling of depression, anxiousness, loss of self-esteem, and the feeling that one is unable to function in a rational way.'' She said the syndrome can occur with repeated abuse in as little as a few months.

Dr. Guthrie also believes Dill was suffering from disassociation at the time of the incident and a few days before.

"With disassociation people are unable to pull all the parts of their personality together to make a rational decision. With disassociation, often after long periods of stress, the person will start things and not finish them, have poor recall of what is going on, and may act as if they are out of it.'' Earlier in the trial a friend, Amanda Gordon, testifying for the defence, said Dill walked out of Gordon's house right in the middle of a conversation on the night of the incident.

"I think she had no intention of killing him,'' Dr. Guthrie said. "This was no straight-forward revenge. She wanted to lay down in the fire too.

"People who are abused have the mindset that the abuse is their fault, and that if they stick with the situation they can repair things,'' she said.

"She fits BWS. She was madly in love with him and pumped him up to unrealistic proportions.'' Dr. Guthrie said the abuse lowered Dill's self-esteem and her personality began to change. She became more isolated and depressed.

Out of the 150 new cases she sees each year, Dr. Guthrie said about one third are related to abusive relationships. She sees about one patient a week who is suffering from some BWS symptoms.

Mr. Delroy Duncan, working with Mr. Juan DeWoolfe for the defence, told the jury in the summation: "It was a slow burn which led to the final straw.

"It's difficult to understand why someone doesn't just leave, but once the self-esteem is down it was easy for Mr. Stancliffe to do his pushing and pulling routine,'' Mr. Duncan said.

"It appears that she was trying to burn herself. She was the one who tried to consume herself in the flames.'' Mr. Peter DeJulio working with Miss Charlene Scott for the Crown said the jury should not be dazzled by the "fancy footwork'' of an expert witness.

"Psychiatrists can explain away any horrendous act,'' he said. "A syndrome is different from an actual diagnosis.

"We have to decide if this man deserved to be burned in his bed.'' The jury is to begin deliberating today. Yesterday, they began receiving instructions from Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward.