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Closeronline.Co.uk 37

closer news report

‘I’ll never forget the pain’Daniel Rotariu, 31, was

disfigured when his

girlfriend Katie Leong, poured

half a bottle of sulfuric acid

over him as he slept. The acid

blinded him and dissolved

part of his face.

He said: “I will never forget

the shock, the pain as the acid

burnt through my skin and the

helplessness of not being able

to stop it.”

Daniel, a press setter

from Romania, began a

relationship with Leong

when he moved into a

shared house in Leicester in

2015. Leong claimed to be

36, but was actually 51 and

things soon turned sour,

with Daniel saying he’d had

enough and that he was going

to move out.

After the attack, Daniel

was rushed to Nottingham

City Hospital burns unit,

where he spent five weeks

in a coma while doctors

fought desperately to

save his life.

When he came round,

Daniel was suicidal. But

thankfully Anna, a support

worker, helped to turn his life

around and the pair are now

in love. Touchingly, Daniel

describes her as his “angel.”

Leong was convicted of

attempted murder in March

and handed a life sentence

with a minimum of 17 years.

But Daniel feels her punishment

is too soft, saying: “Thinking

she could be out after 17

years is disgusting. She’s

shown no remorse.”

in household products and therefore harder to control. MPs described it as a “less risky” crime thanks to shorter sentences.

Adele says: “This needs to be dealt with more seriously. The law needs to change so attackers are given life sentences.”

Two weeks ago, in the wake of the recent acid attacks, Home Secretary Amber Rudd called for a review into longer

sentences for the culprits. And last week, MP Stephen Timms led a discussion in parliament, in which he called for changes in the law to make carrying acid an offence, as well as making it law that you must have a licence to be able to buy sulfuric acid.

He also welcomed the home secretary’s promise of a review into the sentencing of acid attackers and stressed the need

recent incidents made me feel sad and sick.

“I’m angry too – something needed to be done sooner to stop the increase of this kind of crime.”

Like Katie Piper, who was assaulted in the street in 2008, Adele’s attack in 2014 was orchestrated by her ex-boyfriend Anthony Riley, 28. Embittered because Adele had ended the relationship, he offered Jason Harrison, 29, £500 to throw acid at her face.

Adele recalls: “I was waiting for the bus when a guy walked past me and made eye contact. Suddenly, he came back and threw something at my face. Instinctively, I turned away, which meant the right side of my head and hand got the worst of it. I could feel my face melting.”

Adele was rushed to hospital and sedated. Hours later, when she woke up, she was given the devastating news that she’d lost her right ear and suffered terrible

burns to the right side of her face, arm and hand. She’d also lost her long hair in the affected area.

Three deeply traumatic years of therapy, skin grafts and facial reconstruction surgery followed, but Adele says she’s finally getting her life back on track. But the recent attacks have left her angry, because she doesn’t feel as though enough is being done.

tougher laws As UK law makes guns hard to get hold of and knife attacks carry lengthy sentences, acid has become the latest weapon of choice. It’s widely available

hen Adele Bellis heard that six moped riders had been wounded in a series of acid

attacks in London two weeks ago, she felt physically sick. It was just the latest in a spate of incidents in the UK involving corrosive liquids. Three weeks earlier, Resham Khan, 21, and her cousin Jameel Muhktar, 37, were left with devastating injuries to their faces and bodies when a stranger threw acid at them. And in April, 22 people suffered burns after an attack in an East End nightclub.

Two men – including former TOWIE star Ferne McCann’s

ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins, 25, have been charged for the London nightclub incident, while 25-year-old John Tomlin has been charged for the attack against Resham and her cousin.

shoCking CrimeShocking new figures reveal that the number of acid attacks in the UK has doubled in the past four years. In the past 19 months, there have been 1,375 reported incidents and, in London alone, acid was used in 454 crimes last year. Sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, the kind you can buy in hardware shops or easily find in household cleaners, are usually used.

Beautician Adele, now 25, knows the pain the victims are going through. Three years ago, acid was hurled in her face by

someone her ex-boyfriend had paid, leaving her with agonising burns.

She says: “Hearing about the

‘�Acid�AttAckers�deserve�life�behind�bArs’After a spate of horrific assaults using corrosive liquids, burns survivor Adele Bellis, 25, calls for stricter controls on acid and life sentences for those convicted

real life

wfor life sentences.

It’s expected that there will be an update from the home secretary when parliament adjourns in September.

Those convicted are currently charged with grievous bodily harm, and it’s rare for someone to be sentenced to more than 10 years. But Adele believes life imprisonment should be mandatory. In her case, Riley – who masterminded the attack – was sentenced to life with a minimum of 13 years. But Harrison, who threw the acid, was sentenced to just four-and-a-half years and released after two-and-a-half.

Angrily, Adele says: “Acid attack victims have to live with the aftermath. My attacker is free now; that’s not justice. I’ll be disfigured for life.”

Adele fears that without decisive action, the problem will only get worse. She’s also deeply

worried that the person charged over the recent attacks on moped riders was aged just 16.

“Kids could start using it at school,” she says. “It’s definitely become a weapon of choice.”

Three years on from her horrifying attack, Adele is looking forward.

Calling for Changes She says: “I wear a wig to protect my skin from the sun, but I’ve accepted who I am and I don’t let what happened to me define me. You can’t let these people win.

“I’ll have to keep having operations and it will be dragged up every time Anthony applies for parole – if he and Jason had been sentenced for life, I wouldn’t have to think about it.

“The government needs to change the law – it’s the only way to stop other people going through the pain I did.” By Anna Matheson

Katie Piper was attacked in the street in 2008

Anthony Riley ordered the attack on his ex

Jason Harrison threw the acid in Adele’s face

She suffered horrendous burns to her face

Adele lost her right ear and some of her hair after the attack

She had acid

thrown on

her while

waiting for

a bus

Daniel has been left blind and disfigured