An angry woman identified as Katie Leong has allegedly got her ex boyfriend to pour acid onto her new boyfriend, Daniel Rotariu’s face just because he refused to sleep with her.
According to Metro UK, a court was told that Daniel Rotariu was blinded and scarred for life in the attack which happened while he was sleeping.
It was alleged that Mark Cummings, her ex boyfriend, was recruited by Katie Leong to launch the attack using 96% pure sulphuric acid.
A court heard Leong flew into a rage after Mr Rotariu refused to let her get into his bed following an argument in the early hours of July 27 last year.
Cummings, 46, and Leong, 51, both of Leicester, deny attempted murder and a separate charge of intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Leicester Crown Court heard Leong was ‘fixated’ with acid attacks and used Cummings like ‘a puppet on a string’ in order to carry out the attack on Mr Rotariu.
Prosecutor Andrew Easteal said: ‘The acid was poured over his head and face, over his chest, arms, hands and even his legs.
‘Note the word I used a moment ago – poured – not thrown. Poured over to maximise its effect and to ensure most of it struck the target.
‘Sulphuric acid keeps on burning. The fact the intention of the attackers was to kill Daniel Rotariu is, we say, clear.
‘They are both to blame for the horror of what was done that night; each had their own very different and profoundly selfish reasons.’
The court heard that Leong and Cummings had dated until 2015 but he wanted to be with her so it is alleged that she strung him along, feeding his hope that they would get back together.
The prosecutor told the court: ‘Cummings was desperate to please her, to do whatever he could to win her over.’
The court heard that hours before the attack Leong had argued with Mr Rotariu, who was not in the mood to make up with her and went to bed alone.
Mr Easteal said it took about six seconds to pour half-a-litre litre of almost pure sulphuric acid over Mr Rotariu’s head and body.
The court heard Leong later told a police woman that Cummings ‘smiled’ at her as he carried out the attack.
Mr Rotariu woke up screaming so loudly in pain two other tenants in the house woke up – and the emergency services were alerted, the jury heard.
The court heard Mr Rotariu had been promoted after starting work as a qualified press setter with a small local company but was now blind and his life ‘remains in the balance.’
Mr Easteal said: ‘He doesn’t work there anymore and he never will. He is now blind.
‘His body is struggling to cope with the sheer volume of painkillers and antibiotics he must take every day to function at all. His head and face are deeply disfigured and misshapen.
‘Despite all the medication, all the operations so far, he still endures periods of terrible pain, still faces the prospect of many more operations and still his life remains in the balance.
‘An infection might yet be more than his body can combat and not even the doctors who continue to treat him truly know what damage there may be to his internal organs.
‘More awful still is this one simple fact. It was done deliberately.’
The trial continues.