Spotted on the Evening Standard:
A woman was today told she faced jail after being found guilty of hurling acid into the face of a Victoria’s Secret shop worker she claimed had called her ugly.
Mary Konye, 21, dressed in a veil and attacked Naomi Oni after following her home.
Ms Oni, 21, a former friend of her attacker, was left scarred and needed skin grafts after the incident in Dagenham, on December 30 2012.
Konye, of Canning Town, denied throwing acid but a jury at Snarebrook Crown Court returned a guilty verdict after more than seven hours of deliberations.
After the unanimous verdict judge David Radford warned her she faced jail.
He adjourned the hearing for sentencing on March 7.
He said: “I should make clear that in my judgement this is a case that will in all likelihood have a substantial custodial sentence.”
The victim left court in floods of tears without commenting.
Konye stood impassive in the dock as the verdict was read out.
The court heard that Ms Oni suffered serious burns to her face and chest, lost her hair and eyelashes.
CCTV footage obtained by detectives showed a figure in a niqab following Ms Oni as she left work at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford on the evening of the attack.
The jury heard that the following day Ms Konye texted Ms Oni in hospital, saying “OMG, I can’t believe it.”
The pair, who had been friends since secondary school, fell out in April 2011 when Ms Oni allegedly accused Ms Konye of texting her boyfriend and called her an “ugly monster”.
Following the attack, it is alleged Ms Konye posted a picture of the burnt faced Freddy Krueger character from the horror film Nightmare on Elm Street She also wrote the message: “Who looks like Wrong Turn now?” – a reference to a character in another horror film.
It had been claimed in court that Ms Oni had previously likened Ms Konye to the character, triggering her resentment.
Ms Konye pleaded not guilty to throwing or casting a corrosive fluid with intent to burn, maim, disfigure, disable or do grievous bodily harm.
She had claimed that Ms Oni had doused herself with the acid to be like her hero model Katie Piper who suffered injuries when her boyfriend organised an acid attack on her in 2008. The court heard that Ms Oni had carried out internet searches of before and after the attack pictures of Piper.
DCI Dave Whellams said: “Naomi is in shock there is relief but also anger. She feels a lot of emotions.
“She is a very brave woman. Her attacker was a friend who after the attack rang her to ask how she was. She has suffered life changing injuries every time she looks in the mirror she will be reminded.
“It was all over a trivial argument people have all the time.”
Emphasising the pre meditated nature of the crime he added: “Her attacker bought acid, dressed in a veil and attacked her.”
“It was an evil barbaric attack she could have been killed.”
