Mr John Tomlin has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for throwing acid on Ms Resham Khan and Mr Jameel Mukhtar on the 21^st of June 2017.

The cousins had been celebrating Ms Khan’s 21^st birthday when they were viciously attacked in Beckton, East London.

CCTV footage shows Mr Tomlin running up to the car of the Mr Mukhtar and Ms Khan and throwing a bottle of acid at the pair.

Passers-by stated that the cousins were “jumping around as if they were on fire”.

Mr Tomlin surrendered to the police a month after the incident and claimed that he had been hearing voices in his head.

Ms Khan later said that the day which was meant to be of happiness was “turned into a day where my face was taken away from me”.

She added: “I have been looking at myself in the mirror it upsets me, it brings back the incident on the day, it doesn’t look like me”.

Ms Khan suffered from extensive injuries to her neck and face which have left lifelong scars.

Snaresbrook Crown Court also heard that Ms Khan had developed severe depression and anxiety as a result of the attack.

Mr Mukhtar also suffered from extensive injuries to his body, neck and head and impaired hearing in one ear.

Mr Mukhtar, in a victim statement, said: “I get flashbacks and am really worried to leave my house, constantly looking over my right shoulder fearing attacks…I am mentally and physically scarred for life. I can’t even have a relationship. It’s enough dealing with myself”.

Mr Tomlin plead guilty to two charges of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm.

Mr Mukhtar, responding to Mr Tomlin’s sentence of 16 years, said: “The sentence isn’t long enough, my life has finished, I’m in continuous pain, I can’t sleep and I can’t eat…He should have been given life, he should have done the whole of his life in prison”.

The Judge, Ms Sheelagh Canavan, after reading the sentence added: “No sentence I impose can ever give back to the victims what you took from them on 21 June. The court can only hope that in time and with help they can begin to put the consequences of your unprovoked attack behind them. It is undoubtedly a life’s work”.

Ms Canavan added: “It is becoming all too common an occurrence on our streets that members of the public are pouring water over people who have had acid thrown over them, as if this is some sort of fashionable assault that is being carried out”.

Recent years have seen a significant rise in the number of acid attacks being perpetrated in London. Figures released by the Metropolitan Police Force showed that 2017 saw 465 “corrosive liquid” offences being carried out an increase of more than 75% from two years previous (260 in 2015).

The figures also showed that very few were motivated by prejudice, reflecting concerns that gangs were increasingly utilising acid as a weapon.

The head of Acid Survivors Trust International, Mr Jaf Shah, has previously said: “We need to tackle the root causes. Gangs and youth criminality are often linked to social deprivation, disenfranchisement and lack of positive male role models”.