Ex-boyfriend of reality TV star ‘threw acid at clubbers’
A FORMER boyfriend of Ferne Mccann, star of the television reality show The Only Way is Essex, threw acid three times in a nightclub, injuring 16 revellers, a court heard. The incident allegedly happened after he and a friend argued with a group who were allegedly talking about spiking women’s drinks.
Makai Brown, who denied either having or hearing any such conversation, described how he and his friends had liquid sprayed at them at the Wringer and Mangle club in Dalston, east London, on Easter Sunday.
He said the liquid had a “chemical smell”, but he had not seen who had thrown it. “It hit the side of my face. I closed my eyes. I thought it was alcohol. It was only when I smelt it, I realised it was something.” He was later taken to hospital by ambulance.
CCTV images showed the perpetrator to be Arthur Collins, 25, who was wearing a T-shirt with “killer” written on it. Mr Collins, of Broxbourne, Herts, admits throwing the liquid but claims he did not know it was acid.
A number of other people were injured by splashes of acid, with varying degrees of severity, including Andre Phoenix, 21, Mr Collins’s friend and one of the accused pair, the court heard.
Mr Collins and Mr Phoenix, of Tottenham, north London, deny five counts of causing GBH with intent, and 11 counts of actual bodily harm. The trial at Wood Green Crown Court continues.