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Acid attack victim accuses Metropolitan police of incompetence Acid attack victim speaks of disbelief that former friend carried out assault
(about 2 hours later)
A woman left scarred for life after an acid attack has accused Scotland Yard of incompetence, saying police initially claimed she had poured it over herself. A woman who was attacked with acid has spoken of her disbelief when police told her they suspected a former friend of carrying out the assault that left her scarred for life.
Naomi Oni, a shop assistant, suffered serious burns on her face and chest in the incident in Dagenham, east London, in 2012. Naomi Oni said Mary Konye, who was jailed last week for 12 years, was fascinated with her image and was "jealous and obsessed".
Her former friend, Mary Konye, 22, who disguised herself in a Muslim veil before throwing the sulphuric acid, was jailed for 12 years last week. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Oni said her family was "in pieces" and she "almost didn't believe it" when the police told her Konye was a suspect.
Oni told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that police were slow to act on information she gave them about the attack. She told Today: "I don't understand why this has happened. I'm just as lost and as confused, obviously more confused, than everybody, than my family, than the police themselves."
She said it almost felt as if she had "been accused of lying", adding that she had suffered "pain and backlash for her [Konye's] actions and other people's incompetency". Oni, a Victoria's Secret shop assistant, suffered serious burns on her face and chest in the incident in 2012 in Dagenham, east London. Konye, 22, disguised herself in a Muslim veil before throwing the sulphuric acid.
Konye tried to claim it was Oni who planned the incident because she wanted "fame and fortune and to sell her story to the paper", police said.
Oni said Konye messaged her before the attack and also while she was in hospital to cheer her up.
She added: "I remember when I had my first surgery and they removed my dressings and when I saw my face after the surgery I was just in bits, I was crying, I was devastated and I remember her phoning me that night and speaking to her on the phone and just crying to her, 'Who could do this to me?'"
Oni accused Scotland Yard of incompetence, saying police initially claimed she had poured it over herself. She said it almost felt as if she had "been accused of lying", adding that she had suffered "pain and backlash for [Konye's] actions and other people's incompetency".
Oni said officers were incompetent "to kind of accuse me of doing it to myself, when I've said somebody has followed me from my workplace to my home".Oni said officers were incompetent "to kind of accuse me of doing it to myself, when I've said somebody has followed me from my workplace to my home".
"I even got told that they watched the CCTV footage and they saw no one following me," she said. "We've all seen the CCTV footage. There was a person in a veil following me. Why was this not found in the beginning? Nobody has answers to tell me.""I even got told that they watched the CCTV footage and they saw no one following me," she said. "We've all seen the CCTV footage. There was a person in a veil following me. Why was this not found in the beginning? Nobody has answers to tell me."
A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: "All lines of inquiry were considered in the early stages of the investigation. The investigation was detailed and complex and officers had a duty to explore every avenue of inquiry and retain an open mind about the circumstances.A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said: "All lines of inquiry were considered in the early stages of the investigation. The investigation was detailed and complex and officers had a duty to explore every avenue of inquiry and retain an open mind about the circumstances.
"They carried out numerous actions including door-to-door inquiries, leaflet drops, searches, interviews and forensic analyses."They carried out numerous actions including door-to-door inquiries, leaflet drops, searches, interviews and forensic analyses.
"The CCTV evidence took some time to collate and analyse but then clearly showed a veiled suspect trailing the victim before the attack. Konye was arrested as the investigation progressed.""The CCTV evidence took some time to collate and analyse but then clearly showed a veiled suspect trailing the victim before the attack. Konye was arrested as the investigation progressed."
In a victim impact statement read out to the court last week, Oni said she was "paranoid and scared" about being outdoors alone and admitted having suicidal thoughts. In a victim impact statement read out to the court last week, Oni said she was "paranoid and scared" about being outdoors alone and admitted having suicidal thoughts. It was a "battle to get by each day" after being permanently disfigured, she added.
It was a "battle to get by each day" after being permanently disfigured, she added. Breaking down in tears, Oni said: "I just think she is a very evil, evil, evil person and people like her should not exist and they should not be allowed to have a voice for any reason.
She has suffered permanent scars to her leg, chest, stomach and arms, and was almost blinded in one eye. She faces further reconstructive surgery and must wear a silicon face mask, which makes it difficult to breathe, the court heard. "No one should have to come out and say the reason why she did it is because we had an argument. No one in this world throws acid on someone because of an argument.
"She's a big bully that has no remorse and all she's ever done throughout my friendship is continuously bully me. It's an abuse. I just want people to understand that I've been in an abusive friendship so stop abusing me even further. It's not fair on me."
She added: "I just feel isolated, being in a room, just having to think every day about what's happened to me. Not being able to understand why and just feeling alone in my situation and still having to, aside from everything, still having to care for my mum.
"It's an impossible task for one person. I'm only human and I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask for it, I didn't see it coming."
Witnesses during Konye's trial said she planned the attack over the course of two years. It is thought she copied an attack on the model and TV presenter Katie Piper, who was badly scarred and blinded in one eye in 2008. Oni had said Konye was aware of the impact Piper's ordeal had had on her after watching a television documentary about it.
The pair, who had been friends since secondary school, fell out in April 2011 when Oni allegedly accused Konye of texting her boyfriend and called her an "ugly monster".