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Life 'no longer normal', says acid attack victim Naomi Oni Mary Konye jailed for acid attack on Naomi Oni
(about 1 hour later)
A woman who was scarred for life when her friend threw acid on her face near her home in east London has told a court "my life is no longer normal". A woman who threw acid in the face of a friend while wearing a veil as a disguise has been jailed for 12 years.
In a victim impact statement read out at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Naomi Oni said she had at times felt suicidal since the attack due to her appearance. Naomi Oni, 22, suffered burns to her face and chest in the attack near her home in Dagenham, east London, in December 2012.
The 21-year-old suffered burns to her face and chest in the attack near her home in Dagenham in December 2012. Mary Konye, 22, of Canning Town, attacked her because she had once called her ugly, her trial was told.
Mary Konye, 21, who will be sentenced later, was found guilty in January. In a victim impact statement, Ms Oni said she had at times felt suicidal since the attack due to her appearance.
CCTV footage captured Konye, from Canning Town, secretly following the Victoria's Secret shop assistant home from work while wearing a veil. Judge David Radford told Konye the consequences of her "deliberate" and "wicked act have been devastating to Miss Oni".
She attacked Ms Oni because she once called her ugly, the court heard during the trial. It was a "premeditated and callous" plan to "burn and disfigure" her victim, he added.
Ms Oni needed skin grafts after the attack. 'Paranoid and scared'
In the impact statement Ms Oni, who was not present in court, said she found it very difficult to live with her physical appearance since the attack. CCTV footage captured Konye, who was found guilty in January, secretly following the Victoria's Secret shop assistant home from from work while wearing a veil.
She said the traumatic experience had changed her life completely and that she had not thought in a million years her "so-called friend" would do this to her. Ms Oni needed skin grafts and has suffered permanent scars to her leg, chest, stomach and arms and was almost blinded in one eye.
She must wear a silicon face mask and faces further reconstructive surgery.
In the impact statement, read to the court by prosecutor Gareth Patterson, Ms Oni said she found it very difficult to live with her physical appearance and was now "paranoid and scared" about being outdoors alone.
Before the attack, Ms Oni said, she was a "confident" young woman.
"All this changed that day I was struck with acid and my life was turned upside down," she said. She added it was now a "battle to get by each day".
Ms Oni said: "I'm reminded what I look like every day I look in the mirror or see the reaction on people's faces.
"The whole traumatic experience has changed my life. At times I felt suicidal and thought about ending it all."
It was her mother who had kept her going, she said.
"I feel paranoid and scared going out alone," she said. "I'm still scared of being attacked again."
On being attacked by someone who had been a friend since secondary school, Ms Oni said: "It was bad enough believing it was a random attack. Knowing Mary planned this is beyond belief.
"I don't trust people in the same way anymore."
Konye's lawyer Sally O'Neill QC told the court she had admitted throwing the acid since her conviction but claims she did not intend to cause injury to Ms Oni's face.
"The reason for this incident will always be shrouded in some doubt and mystery," the lawyer said.