A TUI holiday rep who suffered 50 per cent burns to her body has said she is ‘haunted’ by the apology her attacker spouted before throwing acid over her
British woman Ellie Chessell told police her assailant said ‘desculpe’ – Portuguese for ‘sorry’ – before throwing two litres of acid over her face, arms, chest and stomach.
The 29-year-old is said to have been attacked by a ‘hit man’ after being allegedly lured to a Tinder date by her ex-boyfriend, where she went to meet a man called ‘Diogo’, according to Portuguese court papers and judicial sources.
Ms Chessell, who was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder after returning to her native Newport on the Isle of Wight, admitted to cops: ‘I still remember what the man who attacked me said before he threw the liquid at me.
‘He used the Portuguese word for “sorry.” To this day I still hear the word countless times whenever I close my eyes.’
Ellie Chessell, who suffered 50 per cent burns to her body, has said she is haunted by the apology her attacker said before dousing her in acid (pictured with Claudio Goeveia, who she says organised the attack with a hitman)
TUI rep Ms Chessell was attacked in the Algarve after arranging to go for a date on Tinder. She said: ‘To this day I still hear the word countless times whenever I close my eyes’
Alleged attacker Edmundo Helder Rodrigues Fonseca, 44, and Ellie’s 34-year-old ex Claudio Gouveia, both from Madeira, are awaiting trial for her attempted murder.
Prosecutors claim Gouveia masterminded the attack on May 6 last year in the Algarve holiday resort of Alvor near Portimao after she walked out on him two months earlier for assaulting her.
Prior to their separation, Ms Chessell had lived in Madeira with Mr Gouveia.
Court files on the horrific attack also show staff at the Lisbon hospital where Ellie was treated for her injuries demanded to see pictures of her former boyfriend suspect because they were so worried about a second assault.
Doctor Ana Ferreira, head of the burns unit at Santa Maria Hospital where she spent a month recovering, wrote to police saying she was worried about the safety of Ellie and staff and asking for photos of the suspect so they could be given to hospital security guards.
Gouveia was arrested at his home in Madeira on May 29 and has been in custody ever since.
He has denied assaulting Ellie during their two-year relationship and is expected to plead innocent to her attempted murder and claim an imposter sent the death threats and other messages she and her family received in the weeks before the attack.
Mr Fonseca, pictured, was found in a Ugandan jail serving time for heroin charges and is allegedly the hitman who was enlisted for the attack
One, dated April 3, titled ‘I Will Find You’, read: ‘I’m going to find you and I will take your head off. You are a slut and you are going to die.’
Nine days later she received a text from his phone saying that he had found her in Algarve, before sending three more sinister messages.
One read: ‘You are going to make me do something silly. And honestly, it’s not like I have a lot to lose.
‘Well I did but not anymore. And you know what. I’m going to take you with me if you don’t reply.’
Now Ms Chessell has been forced to detail the clothes that were ruined in the attack as part of a compensation claim lodged with the investigating court in Portimao.
The distressing compensation claim she has lodged with the court – which includes a €140.95 (£124.38) bill for new clothes she bought for her fateful night out – makes for painful reading.
She explains in the claim: ‘Unfortunately I do not have receipts for these but was wearing some of my best clothes.’
She adds: ‘I had a career with TUI that I enjoyed and fully expected to continue in this role, anticipating promotion.
‘For the foreseeable future this has now been put on hold pending my complete recovery.’
Portuguese and UK police were warned the holiday rep was in danger at least a month before acid was thrown at her in May 2016, according to prosecution papers.
Police on the Algarve were sent an alert marked ‘URGENT’ less than a month before she was doused with acid following a tip-off from British detectives, naming Gouveia and advising them: ‘He needs to be located and stop-checked to safeguard the victim.’
Mr Gouveia, 34, allegedly sent a message to her parents in Newport, Isle of Wight, that said he was going to burn their daughter’s face.
The threats prompted Hampshire police to alert Algarve officers, instructing them to locate Mr Goeveia.
Mr Goeveia allegedly sent messages telling the rep she was going to make him do ‘something silly’. Police on the Algarve were sent an alert about him less than a month before the attack, but there is no evidence in the court files that Portuguese police did anything to stop it
There is no evidence in the court files Portuguese police did anything to stop the attack. None of three police forces the alert was sent to have responded to written requests for a comment.
Before the attack she even received a threat that read: ‘I will find you… you are going to die.’
Ms Chessell later told police she believed her ex-boyfriend had organised the ambush after she walked out on him when he allegedly smashed her head against a wall in a row about money and his jealousy.
‘I thought at first the liquid was urine because it felt warm but I quickly realised it was acid because the heat became burning and I realised I had been caught in a trap set by my ex-boyfriend,’ she said.
Court files claim he carried out reconnaissance in the Algarve with alleged hitman Edmundo Helder Rodrigues Fonseca four days before the attack.
The Tinder profile bearing the name ‘Diogo’ allegedly vanished as the holiday rep was assaulted with acid.
No date for the mens’ trial has yet been set.
Its start is expected to be delayed while Portuguese authorities try to extradite alleged ‘acid hitman’ Fonseca, who left Portugal after Ellie was attacked before being arrested in Uganda with 6.3 kilos of heroin and thrown in jail.
An eagle-eyed British Interpol agent discovered he was wanted over the acid attack after he was caged and alerted Portuguese police.
Ms Chessell has returned to the UK and is undergoing burns treatment as well as receiving therapy for post-traumatic stress.
The TUI rep has returned to the UK, where she is receiving treatment for her burns and the post-traumatic stress she suffered