Acid attack over 'sweet-throwing' cinema argument

The man was attacked in the car park of Cineworld in Crawley

A man had acid thrown over his head and face after a row over people throwing sweets at a cinema.

The victim and another man, both from Redhill in Surrey, had been watching Straight Outta Compton at Cineworld, at the Crawley Leisure Park, West Sussex.

The 27-year-old suffered potentially life-changing injuries in the attack in the cinema car park between 01:00 and 01:30 BST on Sunday.

Police are hunting for two men suspected of being behind the attack.

Det Sgt Laura Diamond said: "We believe what's happened is the victims themselves have started to have some sweets thrown at them or objects thrown at them from behind.

"This didn't materialise into anything, they couldn't identify who it was.

"Then outside in the car park, this altercation appears to have continued and there's an exchange of words which has obviously escalated."

The victim was taken to the East Surrey Hospital for treatment but was later transferred to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for specialist care.

The two suspects, described as white and aged in their late 20s or early 30s, were in a dark-coloured Peugeot car.

One of the men had dark short hair and a beard and was wearing a bag across his shoulder. The other was wearing a white or light grey hooded top and jeans.

Detectives have appealed for witnesses to come forward.