A LONDON MAN has pleaded guilty to throwing a corrosive substance at two people.
John Tomlin, 25 of Canning Town in the English capital, today pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court to two offences of grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent.
The court heard how on Wednesday, 21 June, Tomlin had got into an argument with a 27-year-old man.
The argument had started on the footway and when the man returned to his car, Tomlin approached and threw a corrosive substance at him through the car’s open passenger window.
In the passenger seat of the car was a 21-year-old woman and the majority of the liquid hit her.
The woman began screaming and the man tried to drive away, but was blocked by parked vehicles.
As he tried pull out into the road Tomlin ran around the car and then threw more of the corrosive substance through the driver’s window onto the driver.
Tomlin continued to run alongside the car in an attempt to continue to attack and only stopped when the car outpaced him.
The driver was temporary blinded by the liquid, but kept driving to flee Tomlin’s attack – eventually the car mounted a pavement and crashed a short distance away.
The substance, which was thrown from a bottle, was so strong that it melted the victims’ skin and clothes where it struck.
A subsequent examination of the car revealed that the powerful corrosive had melted through the car’s seats and dashboard.
A member of the public coming upon the crash took both victims to an east London hospital in his car.
Both victims suffered extensive burns to their faces and bodies and have required plastic surgery. Both are still being treated for their injuries.
Tomlin handed himself into an east London police station in July, telling officers he had been living in Epping Forest to avoid arrest.
He will be sentenced in January.
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