Arthur Collins acid attack: Victims reveal horrific injuries as they call for tougher sentences for offenders

Acid attack: Phoebe Georgiou, pictured, was a victim of the Mangle E8 nightclub attack
PA
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Two victims of Arthur Collin’s nightclub acid attack called for tougher sentences for offenders as they revealed images of their horrific injuries.

Phoebe Georgiou, 23, and Lauren Trent, 22, were celebrating their birthdays when they were caught by the acid flung by Collins in Mangle E8, Dalston.

Both went through months of mental and physical rehabilitation therapy for their injuries after the attack on April 17.

Once active and outgoing, Miss Georgiou now confines herself to her family home in north London and suffers night terrors and anxiety in crowded places.

"It's not just physically scarring, it's mentally which is the hardest," she said.

Acid victim: Phoebe Georgiou suffered burns in the attack
PA

"Now I have a life sentence to deal with, with scars and mental injuries. And I have to see a therapist about twice a week because I'm dealing with such bad anxiety and panic attacks and sleep paralysis."

It comes as horrific images of their injuries were revealed after Collins was found guilty of the attack at Wood Green crown court on Monday.

He will be sentenced on December 19, after 16 people were injured in the horrifying incident earlier this year.

Injuries: Lauren Trent was a victim of the acid attack in the Mangle E8 nightclub
PA

Miss Georgiou said: "They didn't check my bag, they didn't search us, or my friend.

"They didn't scan IDs either, which I thought was a bit shocking."

Hours later, in the packed club, both women were preparing to leave when the acid was thrown.

A momentary action stopped each of them sustaining more damage, Miss Trent stooping to collect her bag, and Miss Georgiou climbing up a raised step.

"A drink doesn't just clear a dance floor like that," Miss Trent said.

Lauren Trent: The 22-year-old suffered first degree burns to her legs, feet, chest and neck.
PA

"As I bent down, it was like opening a Coke bottle - it made that sound, that hissing sound.

"As I went to the side I realised this wasn't just a drink. I grabbed my neck and skin was coming off straight away in my hands."

Miss Georgiou saw a "thick, steaming" liquid flying towards her, and a "toxic" smell in the air.

She said: "I stepped on the step and literally one second after I felt a big splash all over my chest and my arm.

"I looked up and I saw it flying in the air. It was a thick liquid, it was steaming. And then I smelt the smell.

"It was toxic. I couldn't breathe, I was choking - it was choking my complete breathing airways and I looked down and my top was sizzling through to my skin."

Between her arrival at Homerton Hospital in east London at 1.30am and her transfer to a specialist burns unit in Chelmsford, Essex, at 7am, Miss Georgiou was confined to a freezing cold shower in an effort to contain the burns.

"I saw my reflection in the shower hold, which was so shocking because my whole chest looked like it had been ripped apart and I could see the inside of my chest and my arm," she said.

Guilty: Arthur Collins
Metropolitan Police

"When I was transferred to Chelmsford, all the broken skin had to be scraped off. While I was doing that I was on Entonox (gas and air) for the pain, because it was indescribable.

"But I would take any pain to get better."

Miss Trent, original from Bournemouth, suffered first degree burns to her legs, feet, chest and neck.

Her friend, who was also caught in the attack, suffered facial burns and permanent scarring.

"I'm one of the lucky ones," Miss Trent said.

"The thing that's in the back of my mind is that if I hadn't have bent down to pick up my bag, that would have been my face."

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