A 31-year-old woman and her three-year-old toddler have suffered potentially life-changing injuries after an acid attack in London. Statistics now show a rise in the horrific crime have shown a marked increase over the last 12 months in the capital.
In the year to 2022, acid attacks shot up by 69 percent nationwide and 45 percent in the capital. The data was released by police following a Freedom of Information request by Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI).
The Metropolitan Police recorded 107 incidents, up from 74 in the year to 2021. However it was Northumbria with the highest rate of such incidents.
Express.co.uk contacted ASTI regarding statistics for 2023, but the charity explained that latest figures wouldn’t be available for laat year until at least the spring.
Following the terrible incident in south London last night, ASTI took to X to condemn the attack. It said: “The horrific reality of acid violence. An unthinkable act where many people, including children, are hurt.”
The incident on Lessar Avenue, near Clapham Common, saw nine people injured to varying degrees. A mother-of-two and her three-year-old daughter have suffered potentially life-altering injuries from an alkaline substance thrown by what police are calling a “dangerous” suspect.
A manhunt is now underway, with police saying that the perpetrator attempted to speed away in a car but crashed into a stationary vehicle. He then escaped on foot.
At least one helicopter has been deployed by police to try and find the man, following the incident at around 7.25pm on January 31.
One witness to the attack, bus driver Shannon Christi, told the PA news agency she was affected by the substance while trying to help the woman and two children outside her home.
She said: “I heard a bang and I heard someone saying ‘help’. I run outside and as I run outside I’ve seen this guy throwing a child on the floor, he picked her up and threw her again.
“So, at that point I ran in and I grabbed her and took her into my block.” Ms Christi said the three-year-old girl she had helped at the scene was crying and did not give her name, meanwhile the older child stood outside her flat block and was also in tears.
She added: “I’ve then seen her mum walking up the road again saying ‘I can’t see, I can’t see’.” She described the woman as Asian, and short with black hair.
