Canary Wharf acid attack: Second victim sprayed with corrosive liquid following attack on woman

Two people were attacked with corrosive substances within a half-mile radius of Canary Wharf in east London on Wednesday evening (27 December), police have said.

A 26-year-old woman suffered life-changing burns to her face and leg when acid was thrown on her as she walked alone in Canary Wharf.

Police say the attack happened in Marsh Wall, near South Quay DLR station. She then ran to nearby Westferry Road and alerted police at around 7pm.

Around an hour and a half later, officers say an Asian man was with friends at the nearby Crossharbour DLR station when he was attacked with an alkaline solution.

The suspects are believed to have carried out the attack after getting out of a Volkswagen car.

They have been described as white males, aged between 20 and 22 years old and approximately 5ft10in tall.

One was dressed in a grey hooded top and wearing a baseball cap, while the other had a short beard and was wearing a blue jacket.

The victim was taken to hospital but has since been discharged. Police described his injuries as not serious.

Police say they are not linking the two incidents at this stage. They are thought to be the first attacks involving the use of corrosive substances for over two months in Tower Hamlets.

The attack involving the woman saw her suffer what police called "life-changing" injuries to her leg and face.

No arrests have been made and police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

It comes after the Home Office announced plans to ban the sale of acids to anyone under the age of 18 earlier this year.

The Home Office and NPCC also said it planned to commission further research to look at the range of motivations for acid attacks.

The measures came as London saw a 173% rise in the number of attacks involving corrosive or noxious substances between 2014 and 2016, from 166 to 454.

Separate data from 39 police forces across the country also reported 408 such attacks between November 2016 and April 2017.

Bleach was involved in 71 of these incidents, ammonia in 69 and acid in 56. Other stated substances, of which there were 107, included boiling water, lighter fluid, petrol, CS and pepper spray and non-ammonia/bleach household cleaning products.

No information was provided on the liquids used in the remainder of the incidents.

If you witnessed either incident on Wednesday or have any information that could assist the investigation, please call Tower Hamlets CID on 0208 754 4550 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.