Woman blinded boyfriend with acid after plotting attack with her ex
A ‘SCHEMING’ girlfriend who blinded her lover by pouring acid over his face and body as he slept has been jailed for life.
Katie Leong, 52, fantasised about throwing acid at someone after becoming obsessed with model Katie Piper, who was left disfigured in an acid attack almost a decade ago.
A court heard Leong tested the effects of the 96 per cent pure sulphuric acid on sausages.
She then crept into Daniel Rotariu’s bedroom with a halflitre bottle after the couple had rowed, leaving him with what a police officer said were the worst injuries she had ever seen.
Mr Rotariu, 31, spent six months in hospital and faces 20 more operations after losing his sight in both eyes and being dis- figured in an attack which melted his bedding. Sentencing Leong to a minimum of 17 years behind bars, judge Mr Justice HaddonCave said Leong had attempted to cover as much of the victim’s face as possible with the acid.
He added: ‘ Mr Rotariu awoke and it felt as if boiling water was being poured over him and he issued an ear-splitting scream.
‘You derived macabre pleasure of thinking about and carrying out your attack on Daniel Rotariu.
‘ You’d harboured a longstanding fantasy about throwing acid in someone’s face and kept a copy of Katie Piper’s book, called Beautiful, beside your bed.
‘You’re a highly manipulative, scheming and controlling person. This offence was a breach of trust by you as Mr Rotariu’s girl- friend and you grossly abused and exploited that trust and attacked him in the most cowardly of circumstances as he slept in his own bed, a bed he used to share with you.
‘It’s a living catastrophe you’ve brought upon this man.’
Following the case, it emerged that Leicestershire Police are under independent investigation over its response to a tip-off that acid had been acquired ahead of a planned attack.
The force had also received reports that Leong and codefendant Mark Cummings – her ex-boyfriend – were in contact, in breach of a restraining order on him after their relationship had ended in acrimony. Cummings, 48, was used ‘like a puppet on a string’ to buy the acid, the court heard. Leong then summoned him to the house where she lived with Mr Rotariu in Leicester. When the pair were arrested at the scene, each said the other had poured the acid.
Mr Cummings, also of Leicester, was cleared of attempted murder over the attack last July.
The judge told Leong: ‘You manipulate men who are lured into your web.’
In a victim impact statement read out before sentencing, Mr Rotariu said: ‘I’m afraid I’m not going to have a relationship ever. I have to make plans, I can’t stay on benefits, I’ve worked all my life. I’m going to need another 20 operations. I’ve had over 5,000 tablets, I’ve counted them. It’s hard and sometimes I wish I was dead and I hadn’t survived.’
‘You lure men and manipulate them’