Acid attacks have soared to record levels in London, with some of those injured under the age of 10.
According to new statistics from the Metropolitan Police the number of violent corrosive liquid offences surged from 66 in 2012 to 752 last year. There has been a sharp rise in attacks in recent years with 616 recorded in 2017, up from 461 the previous year, 348 in 2015, 178 in 2014 and 159 in 2013.
Seventeen attacks have been carried out on children under 10, the 2012 to 2018 figures also show. They are known to include a two-year-old boy who suffered burns to his face when acid was thrown while he was in his pushchair near his Islington home in April 2017 in which his mother, then 36, and father, 40, were also hurt.
One of Britain’s leading criminologists said: “London has sadly become the acid attack hotspot in the western world.”
Dr Simon Harding, associate professor in Criminology at the University of West London, said criminals had turned to acid because it is cheap, easily available and instils fear in both rivals and the public.
The analysis of data, obtained also revealed that domestic violence and religious or racial hatred were among the motivations for attacks.
Newham topped the list of 32 boroughs with the highest number of acid attacks between January 2015 and December 2018. There were 316 in Newham, compared with second-placed Barking and Dagenham (146), then Tower Hamlets (113), Hackney (91) and Redbridge (88).
Among the attacks carried out during the timeframe was when Arthur Collins hurled acid across a packed Dalston nightclub in April 2017 for which he is now serving 20 years for the attack which injured 22 people.
In another incident robbers Antoine Mensah, 21, Miracle Osondu, 19, and Mohammed Ali, 17, maimed people with acid and alkaline in a series of attacks to steal items they were advertising on Gumtree. They were jailed for a total of 32 years last September.
Earlier this month fraudster Jovan Stanley was jailed for three years for hurling ammonia at a police officer trying to arrest him after a spending spree.
In November, it became a criminal offence for the public to possess sulphuric acid above 15 per cent concentration without a licence. Offenders face a two-year prison sentence and unlimited fines.
Provisions in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, when implemented, will ban the sale of corrosive substances to under-18s and give police extra powers to stop and search those suspected of carrying acid.
Last week Scotland Yard said it would not tolerate attacks and had adopted new measures to deal with the aftermath of an incident. The Met is working with the Home Office, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to target offenders through intelligence.
Officers are also working with the Crown Prosecution Service to increase the number of convictions. The Met said the scale of attacks had now reduced despite last year’s record total.
The Home Office said: “The [2019] Act will also give extra powers to police to stop and search those they suspect of carrying acid.”
The number of acid attacks in capital include:
- Newham 316
- Barking & Dagenham 146
- Tower Hamlets 113
- Hackney 91
- Redbridge 88
- Havering 68
- Waltham Forest 46
- Enfield 44
- Kingston-upon-Thames 43
- Westminster 32
