A council gardener was scarred for life after a woman flung concentrated sulphuric acid in his face because she was 'annoyed' by the sound of his strimmer.
Derek Mahoney, 53, was cutting grass on the Keir Hardie estate in Hackney, east London, when irritated tenant Jacqueline Pocket hurled drain cleaner - 91 per cent sulphuric acid - in his face.
Mr Mahoney lost three layers of skin from chemical burns to his head, neck, face and back and spent months receiving specialist treatment at St Andrew's Burns Unit at Broomfield hospital in Chelmsford.
Today as Pocket, 54, was sentenced to an unlimited hospital order Mr Mahoney said he was lucky not to be blinded in the attack on May 14 last year.
He said: "I'm really disappointed with the decision. I feel she should have been sent to prison and she should be punished.
"It was only by circumstance and me having working goggles on that I wasn't blinded or worse. To be frank I am angry and I feel let down.
"The thought she could be out in just over a year is worrying, especially for the safety of the public. Who knows if she might do it again?"
Speaking about the incident itself he said: "People have told me about pain before, but when I felt it on my face it just got hotter and hotter.
"If I was by myself that day it all could have been so much worse.
"It has affected my life not only physically with the burns, but also mentally.
"I'm afraid to go out and when I am around other people I'm quite jumpy. I just stay in at home a lot where I feel it is safe."
No comments:
Post a Comment