KATIE’S ACID ATTACKER: SET ME FREE NOW
Brute who scarred model in parole bid after just 6 years’ jail
THE thug who disfigured Katie Piper in an acid attack has applied for parole.
Stefan Sylvestre, 27, aims to convince officials he poses no risk to the public after six years in jail.
Katie, 31, spoke last year of her horror at the prospect of him being released. And a justice campaigner said: “Six years is too lenient.”
I’m the one with the life sentence, not him. He can move on
KATIE IN BOOK LAST YEAR
halina.watts@mirror.co.uk
KATIE Piper was given a life sentence when she suffered horrific scars in an acid attack, but the monster who did it could be back on the streets in weeks after just six years behind bars.
Stefan Sylvestre’s legal team are believed to have applied for a parole hearing and aim to convince the board he is no longer a danger to the public.
The thug, 27, was sentenced in May 2009 to indefinite detention but has served the minimum term recommended by a judge.
Last night mum-of-one Katie declined to comment, but justice campaigner Norman Brennan warned: “It’s most likely Sylvestre will be released if he has behaved himself in prison and they don’t deem him to be a danger.”
Sylvestre attacked ex-model Katie with sulphuric acid in North London in 2008, acting on orders from her obsessed ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch, 39.
DEVASTATION
Lynch was given a life sentence with a minimum of 16 years.
Last year, Katie, 31, wrote in her autobiography of her devastation at the prospect of Sylvestre being released.
Describing the moment she received a letter saying her attacker was trying to change the terms of his sentence, she wrote: “It was hard to believe that the man who threw acid in my face had already served almost six years of his life sentence, or that he was eligible to apply for a change in the terms of his imprisonment.
“The two of them had taken so much from me, and now this man’s punishment might soon be over.
“I thought, ‘I’m the one with the life sentence. Not him. He can change his identity, change his name, get a new job, a partner, move on, but I can’t. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen because it’s all over my face’.” She added: “Dad reached for my hand and I could see tears falling from his cheeks. I knew I’d upset him but I couldn’t stop crying or shouting.
“‘ There’s nothing I can do! Nothing anyone can do. No one’s going to listen to me and put them away for ever until I become a news story: ‘Acid girl killed by attackers’. “I
turned to Dad. ‘I wish I’d been burned in a house fire or a car accident,’ I said. ‘At least a fire wouldn’t come after me again, at least a fire wouldn’t have a score to settle’.”
Katie, who was blinded in one eye, has been through 40 operations to treat her injuries and at one point wore a plastic face mask 23 hours a day.
In 2009, the TV star set up the Katie Piper Foundation to help victims of burns and disfigurements, with her surgeon Dr Mohammad Ali Jawad and X Factor host Simon Cowell as patrons.
Last night, retired police officer Mr Brennan said Sylvestre should stay behind bars.
He added: “A sentence of six years for the horrific crime of all but destroying not just the looks but the future of a beautiful young girl wasw far too lenient in the first place.p This type of crime has tot be prevented.
“Therefore I and many others would consider that t this is a very dangerous man and poses a threat to any w woman that he may have a r relationship with.”
The Ministry of Justice declined to comment.