A teenager has been arrested after acid was thrown in people’s faces in five attacks over one night in London.<\/p>\n
Two moped riders attacked the victims over 90 minutes in Islington, Stoke Newington and Hackney on Thursday.<\/p>\n
An eyewitness said he heard a victim, who he believed was a delivery driver, “screaming in pain”. One victim suffered “life-changing injuries”.<\/p>\n
Police said they were looking into whether moped riders were targeted so their bikes could be stolen.<\/p>\n
Hackney resident Jon Moody said he was watching TV when he heard screaming and ran to the window.<\/p>\n
“I heard a high-pitched scream but thought it was the boys playing football… I heard more shouting and ran to my window,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I could see a man in serious distress, he was screaming in pain.<\/p>\n
“There were only two police officers with the victim, they took out two large water canisters and poured it over him.”<\/p>\n
He said he believed the victim was a delivery driver and about 20 fellow delivery drivers turned up at the scene.<\/p>\n
The assaults happened amid increasing concern about the sharp rise in acid attacks in London.<\/p>\n
Since 2010\u00a0there have been more than 1,800 reports of attacks involving corrosive fluids in the capital<\/a>. Last year, it was used in 458 crimes, compared to 261 in 2015, according to Met Police figures.<\/p>\n Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said the growing trend of victims being doused with corrosive liquids was concerning.<\/p>\n Ms Dick told LBC Thursday night’s attacks were “completely barbaric”.<\/p>\n “The acid can cause horrendous injuries,” she said.<\/p>\n “The ones last night involved a series of robberies we believe are linked – I am glad to see we have arrested somebody.”<\/p>\n Police said the latest attacks were linked and were questioning the teenager at an east London police station on suspicion of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.<\/p>\n A Met spokesman said one line of inquiry detectives would be pursuing was whether the attackers were targeting moped riders to steal their bikes.<\/p>\n The attacks began at 22:25 BST on Thursday in Hackney Road.<\/p>\n A 32-year-old man on a moped was left with facial injuries after another moped, with two male riders, pulled up alongside him and threw a corrosive substance in his face.<\/p>\n One of the men stole his moped and the other drove away on the vehicle they arrived on.<\/p>\n The Met said it was awaiting an update on the extent of the victim’s injuries. Inquiries are ongoing.<\/p>\n Assaults involving corrosive substances have more than doubled in England since 2012, with the number of acid attacks in the capital showing the most dramatic rise in recent years.<\/p>\n The Met’s own figures show there were 261 acid attacks in 2015, rising to 458 last year.<\/p>\n So far this year – excluding Thursday night – the Met has recorded 119 such attacks.<\/p>\n Shadow Home Secretary and\u00a0Stoke Newington MP Dianne Abbott responded to news of the attacks, tweeting<\/a>: “More terrible acid attacks, Why would you scar someone for life just to steal a moped.”<\/p>\n Labour MP for East Ham Stephen Timms has tabled an adjournment debate for Monday in the House of Commons on the rise in the number of acid attacks.<\/p>\n About a third of last year’s acid attacks in the capital took place in the London borough of Newham, which is in his constituency.<\/p>\n Mr Timms told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that carrying a bottle of sulphuric acid without justification should be treated as an offence, like carrying a knife, adding he was “most concerned about sulphuric acid.”<\/p>\n “We could certainly come up with arrangements that would allow people to use sulphuric acid in the normal way, perhaps with the benefit of a licence. But simply walking around the street with a bottle of sulphuric acid, that should be an offence,” he said.<\/p>\n Home Office minister Sarah Newton told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast the government was considering tighter controls on some chemicals in response to the acid attacks in East London and elsewhere.<\/p>\n But she said regulation would be difficult, as “these chemicals are under everyone’s kitchen sinks”.<\/p>\n She said it was clear acid was being used “as a weapon” and work had been commissioned “to understand the motivation” of people who use it to injure others.<\/p>\n She also said the government was examining sentencing for those who use acid to injure people.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attacks timeline<\/h2>\n
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