We have to worry about acid now? Seriously?
25-year-old Arthur Collins was successfully convicted in the UK after injuring more than 20 people with acid in a bottle thrown over a crowded room. He was found guilty of five counts of grievous bodily harm and nine of actual bodily harm at Wood Green crown court on Monday.
Collins admitted to throwing the liquid, but claims that he thought it was a date rape drug he had grabbed from two other men who planned to spike a woman’s drink – he says he had no idea it was acid.
DCS Simon Laurence, the Hackney borough commander, said: “Collins went to the nightclub that night with a bottle of a noxious substance with the intent to use it to inflict serious harm.
“He indiscriminately and recklessly sprayed the substance in a crowded place, knowing full well the danger this would pose to a large number of people. This was a barbaric and cowardly act.”
The substance thrown over the crowd was tested and found to have a pH rating of 1, with 1 indicating an aggressively strong acid. Victims say that they felt their skin “blistering straight away.”
Collins was found guilty on all counts on a majority verdict of ten to two. He will be sentenced on December 19.
via The Guardian