Reality TV star’s ex-lover faces jail for ‘barbaric’ acid attack that left 22 clubbers burned
THE ex-boyfriend of a reality TV star is facing years in jail after being convicted yesterday of carrying out one of the worst acid attacks in Britain.
Some 22 revellers suffered injuries when Arthur Collins squirted acid in a ‘cowardly and barbaric’ attack across a crowded nightclub dance floor.
Two were temporarily blinded and others were badly disfigured when a tit-for-tat gangland war spiralled out of control in the early hours of Easter Monday.
Last night victims called for Collins, 25, to be given a life sentence because some will carry their scars for the rest of their lives.
Hours before the attack, Collins and girlfriend Ferne McCann celebrated her pregnancy at a family gathering at which he spoke of his delight at the prospect of becoming a father.
Miss McCann, 27, who featured in The Only Way Is Essex before becoming a presenter on ITV’s This Morning, gave birth to a girl called Sunday 12 days ago. She is no longer with Collins.
Judge Noel Lucas QC yesterday told Collins he faces a ‘very substantial’ jail sentence because of the severity of the injuries he inflicted. The judge added: ‘I am concerned as to whether he poses a danger to members of the public.
‘It’s a somewhat exceptional case bearing in mind the circumstances of what happened, the number of people injured and the severity of their injuries.’
Collins was found guilty of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and nine of actual bodily harm against 14 people. He will be sentenced next month.
Wood Green Crown Court was told the attack bore the ‘hallmarks of both drugrelated activity and gangrelated activity’.
Collins had previously been ‘on the giving end and receiving end of previous gangland incidents’, it was said. Wearing a top saying ‘Killer’, he launched his attack during an altercation with a group of men in the VIP area of Mangle nightclub in Hackney, east London, in April.
Just before 1am, Collins sprayed acid into one man’s face and threw the liquid twice more before he was pulled away.
Some victims fell to their knees in agony, rubbing ice from their drinks on to their burning skin.
Sophie Hall, who was attending the 22nd birthday party of friend Lauren Trent, said: ‘My face was burning and it felt like it was on fire and I couldn’t see.’
Miss Trent heard a hissing sound ‘like a can of Coke opening’ and felt her skin come off in her hands when she was hit by acid.
She suffered first-degree burns to her legs, feet, chest and neck. Miss Trent said last night: ‘Victims have to live with those scars for life, so why shouldn’t that be justified with a life sentence?
‘When you throw it, you’re intending to impact someone for the rest of their life so I think you pay the price with your life in prison.’
Phoebe Georgiou, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday, said: ‘My whole chest looked like it had been ripped apart and I could see the inside of my chest and my arm.
‘All the victims are left with a life sentence and people who take out these disgusting attacks need to get a much harsher sentence.’
Collins, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, fled after the attack and was found by police six days later at a house in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire. Wearing just a T-shirt and underpants, he tried to escape from police by jumping from a first-floor window. He broke bones in both his feet and was Tasered by officers.
As police hunted him, a mobile telephone was seized from his sister. It contained the message: ‘Tell mum to mind that little hand wash in my car acid.’
Last night Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Laurence, the Hackney Borough Commander, said: ‘It was a barbaric and cowardly attack. I don’t understand how a human being could do that to others.’
Collins’s co-defendant Andre Phoenix, 21, of Tottenham, north London, was acquitted of four counts of grievous bodily harm and two of actual bodily harm.
‘My face felt like it was on fire’