A clubber has told a court how he fought for breath after Towie star Ferne McCann’s ex-boyfriend hurled acid onto a packed nightclub dance floor.
Victim Kwami Licorish told jurors he felt burning as Arthur Collins threw the corrosive liquid in his face and eyes.
Collins, 25, and Andre Phoenix, 21, both deny five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and 11 counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on 17 April.
Arthur Collins is accused of throwing acid across a crowded dancefloor at a nightclub in London, injuring 16 people. Victim Kwami Licorish today told of the panic after the incident
Security at the Mangle Club in Hackney, east London was ‘lax’, jurors at Wood Green Crown Court heard.
Giving evidence, Mr Licorish said he was at the club friend Ruam Mota when the incident unfolded.
He said: ‘I was on the dance floor with a few friends. All I remember is feeling a splash to my face,’ he said.
‘My eyes were burning, my face was burning, that is all I remember from that night.’
‘It was a strong smell, a very strong smell, an overpowering smell. It stopped my breathing, kind of.’
Mr Licorish described the frightened chaos that followed the attack. ‘Everybody was screaming and shouting and running,’ he said.
Collins, the ex-boyfriend of reality TV star Ferne McCann (left), says he didn’t realise it was acid
He suffered burns on his forehead and above his right eye and was taken to hospital with his cousin.
Mr Licorish said he was taken to the toilets by his cousin Makai Brown and the emergency services arrived later.
Under cross examination, Mr Licorish denied being involved in any argument, pushing or shoving.
He denied talking about ‘spiking drinks’ in the club, or claims he tried to get back a bottle which belonged to one of his group.
The court yesterday that Collins accepts he threw the liquid but did not realise it was acid.
His barrister suggested he was handed the liquid during a row with three men over claims they were planning to spike a woman’s drink.
Collins, of Broxbourne, Hertforshire, and Phoenix, of Tottenham, north London, deny five counts of causing GBH with intent, and 11 counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The trial continues.
Police and emergency services outside the nightclub after the Easter Monday incident
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.