Acid attackers face tougher punishments

TEENAGERS who film acid attacks on their mobile phones will face tougher punishments under new guidelines published today.

Anyone under the age of 18 caught using corrosive chemicals to threaten someone could be handed four months in a youth prison and judges will look particularly harshly on anyone seeking to humiliate their victims.

The Sentencing Council has included acid in the same “highly dangerous weapon” category as knives for the first time, meaning adults caught with the substance or using it to threaten someone could be sentenced to three years in prison.

The guidelines cite humiliation as an aggravating factor: “Deliberate humiliation of victim, including but not limited to filming of the offence, deliberately committing the offence before a group of peers with the intent of causing additional distress or circulating details/ photos/videos etc of the offence on social media or within peer groups.”

Rosina Cottage QC, a member of the Sentencing Council, said: “These new guidelines give courts comprehensive guidance to ensure that sentences reflect the seriousness of offending.”