Acid attack suspect has f led country, police tell victims
A MAN being hunted over the acid attack that injured 20 people in a London night club is believed to have fled the country.
Arthur Collins, 25, the boyfriend of former reality TV star Ferne McCann, is thought to be in Spain or Ireland. Collins is being sought by detectives after acid was sprayed at the Mangle club in East London early on Easter Monday.
Twelve people needed hospital treatment and two – a man and a 22-year-old woman – have been left blind in one eye.
Miss McCann, 26, a showbusiness reporter on ITV1’s This Morning, has appealed for Collins to hand himself in but police told victims they have received a tip-off that he has fled the country.
Yesterday a 21-year- old woman who suffered permanent scarring in the attack told how she suffered third-degree burns to her face and shoulder when the acid was sprayed following a fracas on the dance floor. Sophie Hall, who went to the nightclub to celebrate her best friend’s 22nd birthday, said: ‘It was about one o’clock and we were about to leave the club. I heard a hissing noise and smoke started to fill the room.
‘After the smoke went off the liquid hit us. There was a sense of complete panic, people were screaming. The pain is indescribable. It feels like your skin is eating itself. Police told us it was drain fluid.’
Miss Hall was taken to a specialist burns hospital in Essex with a friend, who suffered burns to her foot, neck and stomach. They shared a ward with other victims, including two men aged 24 and 29 who remain in hospital. One has been told he will be blind in one eye. ‘I have been told my shoulder will be permanently scarred but my face should be OK eventually,’ Miss Hall said. ‘The people responsible should never be let out of prison.’
Scotland Yard said yesterday officers in north London had arrested two of the three men wanted over the attack. They were aged 21 and 24 and held on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. Both remained in custody last night.
A police spokesman said: ‘The net is closing in on those we believe to be responsible for this attack.’