Tower Hamlets 'acid attack': Man sprayed with noxious substance after meeting strangers who wanted to buy his phone

Attacker yelled 'It's acid!' as he sprayed victim in the face
The scene of an acid attack in Tower Hamlets
Google
Martin Coulter15 May 2018
WEST END FINAL

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Police are hunting two thugs who sprayed a man in the face with "acid" after he met them to sell a mobile phone.

Police were called to the scene on Burdett Road, in Tower Hamlets, when a man in his was injured after having a "noxious substance" sprayed in his face.

The victim, a man in his 20s who asked to remain anonymous, told the Standard he had arranged to meet a buyer after advertising his iPhone 10 for sale on Gumtree.

He said: "It all happened so quickly. It was a real shock.

"I went downstairs and opened my flat's lobby door to let this guy in...he said he wanted to check the phone out before he bought it.

"Suddenly he knocked it out of my hands and his mate threw liquid in my face. One of them shouted: 'It's acid.'

"They were gone before I knew it.

"I obviously didn't care about my phone at this point. I just ran upstairs, told my girlfriend what had happened and jumped in the shower."

The pair made off with his phone.

Luckily, medics said the substance was an alkaline substance less damaging than those used in many of the attacks on the streets of London.

The victim was in and out of hospital in the same evening, though he suffered some damage to his right cornea.

"I'm just grateful it wasn't a lot worse to be honest."

The victim was taken to an east London hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

No arrests have been made. Detectives from Tower Hamlets are investigating.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police on the non-emergency number 101

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