Man found guilty of nightclub acid attack in east London
A man has been found guilty of throwing acid in the east London nightclub Mangle E8 that injured more than a dozen people earlier this spring.
Arthur Collins, 25, was convicted of carrying out the attack which took place at a Lovejuice Warehouse Party in the early hours of April 17. Collins’ friend, Andre Phoenix, 21, who had also been accused of taking part in the assault, was found not guilty on all charges.
Collins admitted throwing the bottle of the highly acidic fluid over clubbers, although he claims he had not known it was acid. Collins said he had thought the liquid was a “date rape drug” which he claimed in court he had taken from two men after “overhearing them planning to spike a woman’s drink.”
According to the Metropolitan Police, 22 people were injured in total. 16 of those individuals suffered serious burns, three sustained serious eye injuries, one of whom mentioned in court that their eye remains blurry. Another victim suffered horrendous third-degree burns to the left side of his face, ear, neck, and shoulder area.
The attack took place following an altercation between Collins — who claimed in court he was there to celebrate the pregnancy of his then-girlfriend, The Only Way is Essex star Ferne McCann — and a group of men shortly before 1a.m. CCTV footage shows him arriving near 9 a.m. and spraying the bottle several times shortly after the confrontation at 1 a.m. Collins was arrested shortly after the incident in Northamptonshire on April 22.
Collins was found guilty of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent to harm and nine counts of actual bodily harm. He will be sentenced on December 19.
H/T: Resident Advisor, The Guardian
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