16 years for acid thrower who stole model’s face on her birthday
John Tomlin run through traffic to hurl acid at his two victims
An acid thrower who ‘stole a model’s face’ on her 21st birthday and maimed and her cousin when he hurled the fluid through their car window has been jailed for 16 years.
John Tomlin, 25, hurled the corrosive fluid at Resham Khan and cousin Jameel Muhktar, 37, as they sat in their car at a red traffic light in Beckton, east London.
Student Miss Khan, suffered severe life changing scarring following the unprovoked attack at 9:13am on Tollgate Road, Beckton, on June 21 and said her face has been ‘taken away from me.’
Tomlin targeted Miss Khan through the passenger window before moving round to the drivers side.
He then threw more of the acid at Mr Muhktar.
The two victims tried to drive off, pursued by the attacker who emptied the contents of the bottle through the car window.
They the car crashed into a fence and Tomlin fled the scene.
Mr Muhktar was also badly burned as the liquid was hurled through the car windows left open on a warm summer’s day.
Richard Milne, prosecuting, said eyewitnesses saw them leap out of the car and jump around ‘as if they were on fire.’
Eyewitnesses also described their clothes as ‘melting off of them.’
The cousins were left with horrific neck and face injuries and were treated in hospital.
Miss Khan, who studies at Manchester Met university, had a skin graft and her eyesight is permanently damaged.
She had just returned from an exchange year to Cyprus when the attack happened.
She has shared her journey to recovery on a blog, and last month shared a new picture on Twitter.
In one blog post she comments on how she had been ‘too petrified to walk to my local shop’.
Mr Milne also told the court she has suffered from breakdowns in her road to recovery and was having suicidal thoughts.
She is now adding her voice to petition to strengthen sentences of acid attackers.
‘Not victims, but survivors, gave me so much determination and strength. These women took on the world and its fate, and tackle each day like any other,’ she said.
‘My respect for these woman fuelled anger and disgust. I don’t understand why attackers use acid, but what I do know is that it deserves the harshest punishment.’
Miss Khan described the horrific impact the attack has had on all aspects of her life.
‘Before the attack I was feeling a lot better about myself,’ she told the court.
‘I was extremely happy and confident. I had so much planned for the future.
‘I was feeling so great and had my whole life planned out.
‘This was the day when my face was taken away from me.
‘No matter how long his sentence will be, my injuries will be with me forever.
‘I have been suicidal. I took eight overdoses when I was out of hospital.
‘I have also had to study my degree part-time.
‘I can’t cope with the workload and how people look at me.’
Mr Muhktar was so badly burnt he was put in an induced coma.
He was left deaf in one ear, damage to his right eye and extensive burns to his upper body, arms, legs, back, neck and face.
Mr Muhktar gave an interview to Channel 4 after the attack and similarly said how he ‘couldn’t be around anybody’.
He said: ‘I’m embarrassed to even talk to people. I don’t go outside anymore I can’t even look at myself in the mirror.
He told the court his crippling fear and anxiety since the attack.
‘Since the attack I have been hurting in many different ways,’ he said.
‘I don’t feel like the same person as a result of my injuries.
‘Everywhere I go I get stared at and this upsets me.
‘I am locked in a small room and do not want to go outside.
‘I can’t sleep and can’t relax.
‘I am worried I will be attacked in my home.
‘I am still in so much pain. I have nothing to look forward to.’
He also told the court he contemplated suicide at Manchester Piccadilly train station and was then sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Police have previously said there is ‘nothing to suggest the attack was racially motivated’.
A motive for the attack is not understood but Mr Mukhtar was in the area to try to visit his children and became involved in a ‘heated’ discussion with a man he knew.
Tomlin has been previously sectioned under the Mental Health Act and has been prescribed anti-psychotic medication.
When he first appeared in court in July, he was kept in handcuffs throughout the hearing after prosecutor Alexa Morgan made an application for restraints due to his volatile behaviour while in custody.
She said: ‘There has been application from Serco to keep him in handcuffs.
‘He is very volatile and has been violent in while in custody.’
He had changed his pleas to guilty before the jury were sworn at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
Rajinder Gill, defence, said on Tomlin’s behalf that he apologises for ‘pain and suffering caused.’
Tomlin, who has six teardrops tattooed on his face, was
Judge Sheelagh Canavan previously ordered psychiatric reports be prepared after Tomlin’s ‘somewhat random targeting’ of Ms Khan and Mr Muhktar left them with life changing injuries.
The pair were said to have had ‘no previous dealings’ with their attacker.
The court heard Tomlin has previous convictions for violent crime.
Tomlin, of Colman Road, Canning Town, admitted two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Jailing Tomlin for 16 years Judge Sheelagh Canavan said: ‘There was no reason for you to be there.
‘It was her 21st birthday and it was supposed to be a day of celebration.
‘She had her whole life in front of her.
‘No sentence I impose can give back what you took from them.
‘Those injuries are truly horrific.
‘They will have to live with the effects for the rest of their lives.
‘Mr Muhktar tried to drive away but that did not stop you.
‘It is becoming all too common that members of the public are having to squirt water on victims of an acid attack.
‘It’s as if this is a fashionable assault being carried out.
‘The injuries are dreadful and life changing.’
